Jakarta –
One by one the border gates to Belarus were closed by neighbors in the west. After Lithuania closed two of the six crossing points, Latvia and Poland prepared similar measures, an official told DW.
All three EU countries are responding to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus. “This decision is a precautionary measure to prevent national threats and possible provocations at the borders,” said Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite last week.
“Our policy allows border officers to redistribute capacity and focus on guarding the border.”
Belarusian authorities in turn denounced the border closure by Lithuania as “unconstructive and unfriendly.” In a social media post last week, Belarus’ border agency accused its neighbor of “deliberately building barriers on the border for the sake of political ambition.”
The downward spiral of diplomacy
Giselle Bosse, Belarus researcher at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, said the latest tensions were part of a “regressive spiral” in relations with the European Union.
However, the border closures by Poland and Lithuania have also been criticized by human rights groups. “I frequently receive alarming reports of acts of violence and human rights violations against migrants, including Lithuanian authorities forcing refugees back into Belarus,” EU Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic wrote in a report earlier this year.
The European Commission stressed that each member state “is obliged to ensure effective access to international protection” for asylum seekers. But Bosse thinks that Brussels has not done much to prevent violations.
“Geopolitical calculations are indeed a serious matter. But how far are you prepared to make sacrifices, that at the border we arrive at a situation where we violate the fundamental principles of human rights?” he said.
Stuck in the tomb of conflict
The closure of the European Union’s borders has the potential to make it difficult for normal Belarusians to travel abroad. This makes it difficult for members of the opposition group to escape, if they become political fugitives.
Meanwhile, for refugees from outside Europe, another alternative is crossing Ukraine, which is at high risk. Some parties are worried about the huge humanitarian costs due to the closure of some EU borders.
However, a member of the European parliament from Lithuania, Rasa Jukneviciene, said the option of a humanitarian visa was still open to asylum seekers.
Moreover, the EU wants to strengthen support for Belarusian pro-democracy groups targeted by the authoritarian regime in Minsk since the 2020 mass protests.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told DW that the EU “stands with the Belarusian people for as long as possible towards an independent, democratic and prosperous country,” he said.
Belarusian researcher in the Netherlands, Giselle Bosse, warns that tensions between the EU and Belarus will not subside, especially during the eve of elections in Poland and the war in Ukraine which continues to rage.
“I don’t see any de-escalation at all. What I’m afraid of at this time of escalation is an act of provocation by Russia through Belarus in an atmosphere that is already very tense, that’s what I’m worried about.”
rzn/hp
See also ‘When Lukashenko goes to Putin: Wagner starts to get stressed, wants to travel to Poland’:
(it/it)
2023-08-23 11:13:54
#Belarus #Increasingly #Isolated #European #Union #Border
