• Authorities in Lithuania are considering building a wall with Belarus

    Authorities in Lithuania are now considering building a wall with Belarus. Ingrida Simonyte, the Lithuanian prime minister, has accused the Belarusian government of orchestrating what her country views as a migrant crisis.

    https://twitter.com/VCapici/status/1409246090768101377

    #Lituanie #murs #frontières #Biélorussie #migrations #réfugiés #asile #barrières #barrières_frontalières

    –—

    voir :
    A la frontière entre la #Lituanie et le #Bélarus, Loukachenko se fait maître passeur
    https://seenthis.net/messages/919781

    • Lithuania Reports 116 More Border Arrests Of Migrants Crossing From Belarus

      Lithuanian authorities reported 116 more arrests of migrants crossing the border from Belarus, a surge in crossings that Lithuania says Minsk is purposely organizing in retaliation for European Union sanctions.

      The Lithuanian State Border Security Service said on July 3 that border guards also fired tear gas and warning shots as one group of migrants were being detained.

      The latest figures bring the number of migrants detained over the past two days to 179, the service said; in all 938 people have been arrested crossing from Belarus this year, 12 times as many in all of last year.

      Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said late on July 2 that the government had declared a state of emergency, and he accused Lukashenka seeking “to weaponize migration to weaken our resolve for sanctions.”

      Vilnius contends that the migrants, most of whom are Iraqi, are moved to the border with Lithuania, where Belarusian border guards turn a blind eye as they cross into the European Union member state.

      Lithuania has been one of the loudest critics of Belarus’s strongman leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka since last August’s dispute presidential election. The 66-year-old Lukashenka claimed victory, setting off months of unprecedented protests.

      The opposition says that election was rigged, and the West has refused to recognize the results of the vote.

      The Baltic state has offered refuge to Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who supporters say was the real winner of the election.

      Vilnius has also become a center for Belarusians in exile, and the two countries have expelled a number of diplomats as ties have worsened in recent weeks.

      The EU’s border guard service, Frontex, has sent teams to Lithuania to help deal with the influx of migrants.

      https://www.rferl.org/a/lithuania-migrants-arrests-belarus/31339043.html

    • La Lituanie se dit débordée face à l’afflux de migrants venus de Biélorussie

      La Lituanie s’est déclarée, vendredi, en #état_d'urgence, face à la hausse des arrivées de migrants depuis la Biélorussie voisine. Plus de 150 personnes ont traversé la frontière ces dernières 24 heures. L’agence de garde-frontières européenne, #Frontex, a dépêché une équipe pour venir en aide au pays balte.

      Une équipe de six gardes-frontières de l’agence européenne Frontex a commencé à travailler vendredi 2 juillet en Lituanie pour aider le pays balte à faire face à l’arrivée de migrants. Depuis plusieurs semaines, des dizaines de personnes en provenance de la Biélorussie voisine, passent la frontière ouest du pays pour entrer en Lituanie.

      Le nombre de gardes-frontières de Frontex devant être déployés à la frontière biélorusse devrait passer à 30 dans le courant du mois.

      Les garde-frontières lituaniens ont indiqué avoir arrêté quelque 150 migrants ces dernières 24 heures - près du double du nombre d’arrestations sur l’ensemble de 2020. Face à cet afflux, le gouvernement a déclaré l’état d’urgence vendredi.

      Cela porte le nombre total de traversées illégales de frontières par des migrants cette année à plus de 800, la plupart venant du Moyen-Orient. Sur l’ensemble de 2020, 81 traversées illégales de la frontière avaient été enregistrées – et 37 en 2019.

      La plupart des migrants sont originaires d’Irak, mais il y en a aussi de plus en plus de Syrie, de Gambie, de Guinée et d’Inde, selon le site EUobserver (https://euobserver.com/world/152305).

      « La situation commence à se détériorer »

      « La situation est tendue et a tendance à se détériorer », a déclaré le ministre lituanien des Affaires étrangères Gabrielius Landsbergis à l’AFP.

      Il y a deux semaines, l’armée lituanienne a mis en place un #camp_d’urgence de plusieurs tentes à #Pabradé, à une quarantaine de kilomètres de la capitale Vilnius, pour pouvoir gérer l’afflux. « Le but du ministère est clair : les migrants économiques qui traversent la frontière de l’UE illégalement doivent être renvoyés à l’endroit d’où ils viennent », a-t-il ajouté.

      « Un tiers sont des hommes, un autre tiers sont des femmes, on accueille aussi des enfants, quelques mineurs non accompagnés et des personnes avec des problèmes de santé. Nous sommes inquiets quant à nos capacités d’accueil pour assurer l’hébergement à ces personnes qui demandent l’asile », a expliqué à RFI Egle Samuchovaite (https://www.rfi.fr/fr/europe/20210618-la-lituanie-accuse-la-bi%C3%A9lorussie-de-laisser-passer-des-migrants-s), directrice des programmes de la Croix-Rouge lituanienne, au mois de juin.

      Le gouvernement lituanien, qui s’oppose au président biélorusse Alexandre Loukachenko, a indiqué qu’il soupçonnait les autorités du pays de laisser les migrants passer la frontière.

      Ces tensions entre Minsk et Vilnius interviennent alors que les relations entre l’Union européenne et la Biélorussie sont elles-mêmes très compliquées. En cause : le détournement au mois de mai d’un vol commercial de Ryanair ordonné par le président Loukachenko pour arrêter un dissident politique.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/33405/la-lituanie-se-dit-debordee-face-a-l-afflux-de-migrants-venus-de-bielo

    • L’agence des frontières de l’UE augmente ” considérablement ” l’aide à la Lituanie

      L’agence des frontières de l’Union européenne s’engage à renforcer “de manière significative” son soutien à la Lituanie dans les prochains jours “en raison de la pression migratoire croissante à la frontière lituanienne avec la Biélorussie” que la nation balte tente de contenir .

      La décision de Frontex, l’agence chargée de coordonner le contrôle des frontières entre les États membres de l’UE et les pays tiers, a été annoncée samedi dernier à la suite d’un appel vidéo entre le directeur exécutif de Frontex Fabrice Leggeri et le président lituanien Gitanas Nauseda.

      “La frontière lituanienne est notre frontière extérieure commune et Frontex est prête à aider si nécessaire”, a déclaré Leggeri dans un communiqué. “Nous sommes prêts à renforcer notre niveau de soutien et à déployer plus d’officiers et d’équipements du corps permanent européen” en Lituanie, membre de l’UE et de l’OTAN de 2,8 millions.

      L’opération de Frontex, qui a commencé au début du mois avec le déploiement d’une douzaine d’officiers et de voitures de patrouille, va doubler la semaine prochaine, a indiqué l’agence.

      Le bureau de Nauseda a déclaré séparément que Frontex avait promis que des renforts devraient arriver en Lituanie avant le 15 juillet et que des patrouilles frontalières armées et d’autres traducteurs sont arrivés au cours du week-end.

      En outre, un hélicoptère de patrouille sera envoyé en Lituanie depuis la Pologne voisine et des discussions sont en cours pour envoyer un autre hélicoptère depuis l’Allemagne, a indiqué le bureau de Nauseda.

      Dans un tweet, Nauseda a remercié Frontex pour son soutien “Gérer les flux de migrants illégaux à travers la frontière orientale” avec la Biélorussie, autre ancienne république soviétique qui ne fait pas partie de l’UE.

      La Lituanie, qui a donné refuge à des membres de l’opposition biélorusse, accuse son voisin d’organiser des passages frontaliers principalement par des personnes originaires d’Irak, du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique.

      En juin, le nombre de passages illégaux des frontières entre la Biélorussie et la Lituanie a sextuplé, augmentant la pression sur les autorités nationales de contrôle des frontières, a déclaré Frontex. Le phénomène s’est accéléré en juillet et plus de 1 500 personnes sont entrées en Lituanie depuis la Biélorussie au cours des deux derniers mois, 20 fois plus qu’en 2020.

      Plus tôt cette semaine, le président autoritaire biélorusse Alexandre Loukachenko a déclaré que son pays ne fermerait pas ses frontières “et ne deviendrait pas un camp pour les personnes fuyant l’Afghanistan, l’Iran, l’Irak, la Syrie, la Libye et la Tunisie”.

      Les tensions entre l’UE et la Biélorussie se sont encore intensifiées après que la Biélorussie a détourné un avion de ligne le 23 mai pour arrêter un journaliste de l’opposition.

      Loukachenko a déclaré que son pays cesserait de coopérer avec le bloc des 27 pays pour endiguer la migration en représailles aux lourdes sanctions économiques que l’UE a imposées à la Biélorussie pour le détournement d’avions de passagers.

      Vendredi, la Lituanie a commencé à construire une double clôture en fil de fer barbelé à la frontière avec la Biélorussie. Il parcourra 550 kilomètres (342 miles), couvrant la majeure partie de la frontière de près de 680 kilomètres (423 miles) et coûtera 41 millions d’euros (48 millions de dollars), selon les autorités lituaniennes.

      En outre, la Lituanie a mis en place des camps de tentes pour accueillir le nombre croissant de migrants.

      https://www.cablechronicles.com/lagence-des-frontieres-de-lue-augmente-considerablement-laide-a-la-

    • EU deploys border force in Lithuania as Belarus opens pathway for migrants

      Officials cite effort by Minsk to ‘weaponize’ irregular migration flows.

      The EU’s border protection agency on Monday said it was mobilizing a rapid intervention force to Lithuania, where the government has accused neighboring Belarus of allowing hundreds of migrants to cross illegally into the country.

      The allegations that Belarus is “weaponizing” migrants in retaliation for EU sanctions and support for political opponents of the country’s long-time leader, Alexander Lukashenko, were discussed Monday in the European Parliament and in the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

      “It seems like the Belarusian authorities now facilitate irregular migration possibly in retaliation to EU restrictive measures and as a response to the Lithuanian support for the civil society in Belarus,” the EU’s commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, testified during a joint hearing of the Parliament’s home affairs and foreign affairs committees.

      Johansson said that the method of arrivals was still under investigation, but that it appeared several flights per day were landing in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, carrying migrants from Istanbul and Baghdad. Officials said at least 60 EU border guards were expected to arrive in Lithuania in the coming days.

      While many of the migrants that have crossed into Lithuania seem to be of Iraqi or Syrian origin, there have also been migrants from African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

      Arriving for Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said his country was struggling to return migrants to their home countries. He added that the Baltic nation is now confronting challenges more commonly seen in frontline EU countries like Greece and Spain that face a constant influx of migrants across the Mediterranean, and have faced similar pressure of arrivals from Turkey and Morocco.

      “The European Union should have a common strategy how to deal with these sort of political or hybrid threats,” Landsbergis said. “We need a strategy of readmission because a country — be it Lithuania, be it Greece or Spain — alone faces a rather challenging path when trying to return the people who illegally entered the country. Secondly, we need to be very strict with the regimes who are using these sorts of weapons.”

      Landsbergis called for additional sanctions against Belarus and said other countries using such tactics should face similar punishment.

      To help manage the crisis, the Lithuanian parliament will convene in a special session on Tuesday to adopt amendments to national asylum laws with an aim of reducing the time needed to evaluate applications for protected status.

      Asked if the situation in Lithuania was adding new urgency to the EU’s years-long struggle to develop a new migration pact, the bloc’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said it was up to the border protection agency, Frontex, to help manage the situation.

      “That’s why we created Frontex, to help member states to face migration crises,” Borrell said at a news conference following the meeting.
      ‘High pressure’ situation

      Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of Frontex, said his agency had anticipated Belarus seeking to use flows of irregular migrants as a political weapon, and has been monitoring the country’s borders since last fall. Testifying in the parliamentary hearing, Leggeri said there had been more than 1,600 irregular border crossings to Lithuania from Belarus since January 1 of this year, but roughly half of those, some 800, occurred in the first week of July.

      “This was clearly the sign that something was happening with more intensity,” Leggeri testified, adding: “We see that there is a high pressure that could even worsen in the next days.”

      Leggeri told Parliament that while the initial arrivals had mostly come from Iraq, Syria and Iran, this month there was a shift toward African nationals, including migrants from Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal. He said Lukashenko’s government was encouraging the influx by inviting citizens to travel to Belarus without visas under the guise of obtaining coronavirus vaccines.

      “Belarus announced that 73 countries are encouraged to enter Belarus without a visa and to stay up to five days to get COVID vaccine shots,” he said.

      Lukashenko has simultaneously denied using migrants for political pressure while also warning that Belarus has no intention of halting the flows. He has effectively mocked the EU, saying last week: “We will not hold anyone back. We are not their final destination after all. They are headed to enlightened, warm, cozy Europe.”

      According to statistics from the Lithuanian Border Guard Service, a total of 1,714 irregular migrants crossed the Lithuanian border in 2021, compared to just 74 in 2020. Of these, 1,676 arrived from Belarus. According to the statistics, roughly 1,000 irregular migrants were detained between July 1 and July 11, including 377 from Iraq; 194 from the Democratic Republic of Congo; 118 from Cameroon; 67 from Guinea; 23 from Afghanistan; 22 from Togo; and 20 from Nigeria.

      The bizarre situation of Middle Eastern and African migrants arriving in the Baltics was part of a busy Foreign Affairs Council meeting that included a discussion over lunch with the new Israeli foreign affairs minister, Yair Lapid.

      Ministers also discussed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which Borrell conceded was a direct consequence of the withdrawal of Western troops that was ordered by U.S. President Joe Biden. Borrell said a new international task force may be needed to try to stabilize the country and, especially, to protect the rights of women and girls, but he gave no indication of how such a task force would operate without military support.

      Ministers also discussed the continuing risk of famine in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Borrell said the EU was trying to mobilize assistance but that it was impossible for the EU alone to address a shortage of food for an estimated 850,000 people.

      https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-deploys-border-force-in-lithuania-as-belarus-opens-pathway-for-migrants-

    • Lithuania introduces pushbacks against migrants crossing from Belarus

      As Lithuania struggles to stem the flow of migrants trying to enter the country from neighboring Belarus, border guards have said that they have begun to push back migrants trying to enter the country using irregular methods of crossing.

      Rustamas Liubajevas, the head of Lithuania’s border guard service, announced on Tuesday that “anyone who tries to enter Lithuanian territory illegally will be refused entry and directed to the nearest operational international border control point.” He added that some 180 migrants had already been sent back to Belarus on Tuesday.

      “Deterrent actions may be taken against those who do not comply,” Liubajevas said further. He did not to disclose the exact measures taken, but said the guards did not use violence to push back the migrants.

      The Baltic News Agency confirmed the reports.


      https://twitter.com/BNSLithuania/status/1422295961074814980

      Criticism against move

      The decision to introduce push backs has been taken by Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite, effectively allowing authorities to use force to send migrants to official border crossing points or to diplomatic missions, where they can apply for asylum legally.

      Lithuanian NGOs meanwhile have responded to the pushback of migrants, saying that it violates international human rights: “This restricts the fundamental human right to seek asylum in a safe state,” Akvile Krisciunaite, a researcher at the Diversity Development Group, told the AFP news agency.

      “Belarus is not a safe country, and human rights are known to be grossly violated there.”

      So far this year, Lithuanian border officials have detained more than 4,000 migrants — mostly Iraqi nationals. That number compares to 81 intercepted migrants for all of 2020.

      ’Cold War’ between Belarus and Lithuania

      Tensions between the two countries are on an all-time high since much of the Belarusian opposition have sought refuge in Lithuania from violent oppression following the disputed presidential reelection of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020. His main challenger and the likely winner of the vote, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has been living in exile in Lithuania ever since.

      Many Western governments, including Lithuania, have denounced the alleged re-election saying results were rigged. The EU then imposed a series of sanctions. Lithuanian officials now said they suspect that the influx of migrants is being staged by the Belarusian government under Lukashenko’s leadership.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/34091/lithuania-introduces-pushbacks-against-migrants-crossing-from-belarus

    • Lithuanian parliament votes to allow mass detention of asylum seekers

      Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday (13 July) approved the mass detention of migrants and curbed their right of appeal, a move meant to deter high numbers crossing the border with Belarus but which stirred an outcry among humanitarian groups.

      Eighty-four lawmakers supported the bill, with one objection and 5 abstentions, brushing aside protests from Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations saying it violates Lithuania’s international obligations and migrant rights.

      Lithuanian and EU officials have accused Belarus of using illegal migrants as a political weapon to exert pressure on the European Union because of the bloc’s sanctions on Minsk. More than 1,700 people have entered Lithuania from its non-EU neighbour this year, including 1,100 in July alone.

      Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said the detention policy would prevent migrants from illegally travelling onwards to the more affluent west of the EU – the favoured destination of the vast majority of migrants reaching EU territory in recent years.

      The legislation is intended “to send a message to Iraqis and others that this is not a convenient route, conditions will not be good here”, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said in introducing the bill.

      She said such migrants are “not real asylum seekers” but rather Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s “tool to use against Lithuania”, after he vowed retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over his violent suppression of street protests.

      The new law bans any release of migrants from detention for six months after their arrival, curbs the right of appeal for rejected asylum-seekers and stipulates that migrants can be deported while their appeals are considered.

      “The law is a potential human rights violation, and it does not correspond to EU directives,” Lithuanian Red Cross programme director Egle Samuchovaite told Reuters.

      “It enshrines the current bad situation in Lithuania’s detention centres in law and leaves vulnerable people in an even more vulnerable situation.”

      Lithuania also began building a 550-km razor wire barrier on its frontier with Belarus on Friday.

      The small Baltic republic of 2.8 million people, on the poorer eastern end of the EU, is used to receiving less than 100 illegal migrants per year and has struggled to cope with the recent influx.

      Fewer rights for migrants

      Several migrants at a temporary detention centre in a disused school in rural Lithuania told Reuters on Monday they had been given no information about their rights or future, nine days after arriving from Belarus.

      They said they had not been given a chance to apply for asylum nor to speak with the help of a translator.

      The new law removes most rights accorded to migrants such as the right to a translator or to obtain information about their status and the asylum process.

      Lithuanian authorities are now obliged only to provide upkeep in detention, medical care and legal aid, but Simonyte said the government will try to do more.

      “The government intends to provide all support that is needed for those people,” she told reporters. “But if there is a very sudden influx in a short time frame, we might be able to ensure only what is absolutely needed. For that we should have a legal framework.”

      Dainius Zalimas, a lawyer who until June was the chairman of Lithuania’s Constitutional Court, said mass detention and restricted appeal process likely violate both Lithuania’s constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.

      “The proposals, which are unconstitutional, are based on premise that all foreigners who crossed the border are second-class human beings, not entitled to constitutional rights,” he told Reuters before the vote.

      https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/lithuanian-parliament-votes-to-allow-mass-detention-of-asylum-seekers

      #détention #détention_massive

    • EU presses Iraq to halt migrant flights to Belarus

      A number of new flights have been announced between Iraq and Belarus.

      The EU is ramping up pressure on Iraq to stop its airlines from flying to Belarus, which helps Minsk send asylum seekers into the EU in retaliation against sanctions imposed by the bloc.

      On Thursday, there were signs that the pressure was beginning to work. An Iraqi Airways flight from Basra to Minsk was canceled. However, an aircraft belonging to another carrier, Fly Baghdad, did land in the Belarusian capital Thursday, although a flight scheduled for Friday was canceled. Iraqi Airways recently expanded its schedule of flights to Belarus, while Fly Baghdad first started trips to Minsk in May.

      “We welcome the reports on the decision about the cancellation of these flights,” a European Commission spokesperson said Thursday, although they did not confirm reports that Iraqi Airways will cancel flights until August 15.

      The EU has accused Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of trying to “weaponize” the Iraqi migrants who arrive in Minsk. They are taken to the border with Lithuania and then cross into the EU; so far, 4,000 asylum seekers have entered, almost 2,800 of them from Iraq. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis estimates that up to 10,000 migrants could come into his country by the end of the summer. Last year, Lithuania received only about 80 migrants.

      This migration crisis is very different from previous ones where people crossed into the EU by sea. The main access to Belarus is by air, and despite EU efforts to throttle traffic, Minsk is working hard to expand the number of flights reaching the country.

      The immediate pressure is on Iraq, but there is also an increase in flights to Minsk from Turkey, also reportedly carrying asylum seekers.

      The EU is ramping up pressure on Iraq to fall into line.

      Charles Michel, president of the European Council, got involved, speaking to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

      Talks with the Iraqis are “done in a very constructive spirit [with] the Iraqi side conveying the willingness to cooperate and jointly address the situation," said the Commission spokesperson.

      Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and others joined Lithuania in putting pressure on Baghdad, diplomats said. An Iraqi delegation was in Lithuania last week and visited the camps where Iraqis are staying.

      Some EU diplomats say that the diplomatic effort is hampered by a lack of strong leverage over Baghdad. The Iraqis “are well aware that we cannot abandon them, we need them for our security and we cannot risk having another Afghanistan next door,” said an EU diplomat.

      The bloc did threaten last month to restrict visas for Iraqis to improve cooperation in taking back people rejected for asylum. The Commission said that “Iraqi authorities cooperate only on voluntary returns and in very exceptional cases (Iraqi nationals convicted for a criminal offence) on forced returns” and that “Iraq’s cooperation with the EU on readmission matters is not sufficient and that action is needed.”
      More flights

      While flights from Iraq are the most pressing issue, there is also worry about the increase in routes from Turkey.

      In recent weeks, Belavia — which is currently banned from European airspace after Minsk illegally diverted a Ryanair plane in May to kidnap an opposition blogger — has beefed up its schedule from Turkey. Two routes between Minsk and Istanbul that had been serviced three times a week are now flying daily. Regular flights from Izmir have been reinstated, as have several regular flights from Antalya — although those are also popular holiday destinations for Belarusians.

      There is also an effort to crack down on EU-based leasing companies supplying aircraft to Belavia.

      Brussels “must make sure that no European company can provide assets that facilitate the trafficking route,” Landsbergis told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook on Wednesday.

      According to an EU official, several of the jets operated by Belavia come from Ireland. A company based in Denmark, Nordic Aviation Capital, has also provided aircraft to Belavia in the past. A spokesperson for the firm said it would not comment, but the company announced last September that it had delivered the last plane of a five-jet agreement to the carrier.

      Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told POLITICO his government does not yet “have sufficient information to verify such claims” but said the case is being reviewed by Danish authorities.

      “But let me be clear: If Danish companies are involved in Lukashenko’s deliberate, malicious and cynical efforts to use migrants as a political weapon to try and put pressure on Lithuania and the EU, then that would of course be totally unacceptable and should be stopped immediately,” he said. “If European companies aid and abet the Lukashenko regime in this way, then I firmly believe we need to revisit our current sanctions in the EU.”

      SMBC Aviation Capital, a Dublin-based company that has previously leased aircraft to Belavia, said in an email on Wednesday that it had not been contacted by Irish or European authorities. The Irish government did not respond to a request for comment.

      https://www.politico.eu/article/belarus-migrant-flights-eu-sanctions-iraq-turkey

      #Irak #vol #vols

    • La Lituanie commence la construction d’une clôture à la frontière avec le Bélarus

      La Lituanie a entrepris la construction d’une clôture le long de sa frontière avec le Bélarus, accusé par Vilnius et Varsovie d’acheminer des migrants vers l’UE.

      C’est un mur de plus qui va être érigé en Europe, de plusieurs centaines de kilomètres de long.

      Tetas, une entreprise de construction qui fait partie du groupe énergétique public lituanien Epso-G a commencé à acheminer le matériel nécessaire à la construction d’une clôture de 111 kilomètres de long, a rapporté le radiodiffuseur public LRT.

      L’entreprise a aussi marqué les sections des points de contrôle frontaliers de Druskininkai, Barauskas et Adutiskis dans le sud-est de la Lituanie.

      Dans l’urgence, des barbelés accordéon vont être posés dans les sections clés ce mois d’octobre, puis la pose d’une clôture de 4 mètres de hauteur sera effectuée à partir de novembre/décembre, avec pour objectif de l’achever d’ici le mois d’avril 2022.
      500 km au total

      Mais ce tronçon de 111 kilomètres ne représente qu’une première étape. L’entreprise Epso-G prévoit de lancer un second appel d’offres dès cette semaine, pour la construction d’une section de 400 kilomètres qui doit être terminée d’ici septembre 2022.

      Le gouvernement lituanien, qui accuse Alexandre Loukachenko de mener une « guerre hybride » contre la Lituanie, a alloué 152 millions d’euros pour la construction d’une barrière de 508 kilomètres.

      La Lituanie a accueilli sur son sol des opposants au régime de Loukachenko et son parlement a reconnu Svetlana Tsikhanovskaïa comme la présidente légitime du Bélarus.

      A Varsovie aussi on s’inquiète des mouvements du voisin de l’est. La Biélorussie augmente la pression de l’émigration illégale vers les frontières de l’UE en acheminant « des dizaines de milliers d’immigrants dans son pays afin de les livrer à la frontière avec la Pologne », a assuré le premier ministre Mateusz Morawiecki.

      Tout le monde en Lituanie ne voit pas ce nouveau mur d’un bon œil.

      Dans une interview au « Courrier d’Europe centrale », l’eurodéputé et ancien ministre de la Défense lituanien Juozas Olekas estime que « Loukachenko est un leader illégitime qui […] utilise les migrants comme un mécanisme de pression sur l’Union européenne ».

      Pour autant, Juozas Olekas déclare : « Je ne suis pas favorable à l’érection de murs sur l’ensemble de la frontière et je pense qu’un travail diplomatique intensif, y compris avec les pays d’origine des migrants, ou de meilleures patrouilles, qui fonctionnent déjà, seraient des mesures plus efficaces. Je pense qu’il est inutile de paniquer, car ça ne sert jamais à rien, et que nous devrions nous concentrer sur des solutions à long terme ».

      https://courrierdeuropecentrale.fr/la-lituanie-commence-la-construction-dune-cloture-a-la-front