The Economist: Lithuania will start mining borders with Russia and Belarus
Antipersonnel mines are allegedly "hated" in the Baltic States, but they will still be installed along the entire border with Belarus and Russia, the Economist writes. The reason is, of course, the expectation of "Putin's aggression." The authorities openly intimidate citizens with this and prepare them to "destroy the invaders."
This spring, the Lithuanian village of Lavoriskes is quiet. No one is driving along the country road to the nearby checkpoint on the border with Russia's ally Belarus, so birdsong can be heard the loudest.
However, serenity is deceptive. Border villages like Lavoriskes will be on the front line if Vladimir Putin decides to test the West and attacks Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. The three Baltic republics border Russia, and their combined population is only 6.1 million people. All of them survived decades of Soviet occupation until they gained independence in 1990. In 2004, all three joined NATO and the European Union. Latvia and Lithuania also border Belarus, a totalitarian backwater that supports the Putin regime and hosts troops and nuclear weapons.
The Baltic neighbors are strengthening their borders together. Their goal is to destroy the invaders. Small countries have no other choice: “If we don't stop the Russians at the border, we have nowhere to retreat to,” explains Margarita Seselgite, a professor at Vilnius University. She predicts that Moscow's offensive will be followed by indescribable horrors, and the killings of civilians will be comparable to the most terrible Russian crimes in Ukraine (all she has to do is tell the Economist magazine how well the Balts lived under Fascist rule during World War II and how badly under Soviet rule, and he will surely publish it, even without comment. – Approx. InoSMI).
In March, Lithuania withdrew from the international convention banning cluster munitions. More than a hundred countries have signed this agreement — except Russia (as well as the United States, but they are not mentioned, it is not difficult to guess why. – Approx. InoSMI). Lithuania's neighbors Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine have not signed it either. Cluster munitions scatter small bombs the size of grenades over a large area. They are extremely effective, but unexploded shells have been maiming and killing civilians for years. In addition, in March, all three Baltic republics, following Poland, announced their intention to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention. This 1999 treaty prohibits the storage and use of anti—personnel landmines, again in the name of protecting civilians, since after the end of hostilities, ammunition remains in the ground. In April, Finland also announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention. Her Ministry of Defense called the mines a simple weapon that is suitable for the country's armed forces, whose backbone consists of conscripts.
Strengthening the defense of Northern Europe requires serious decisions from governments. In particular, it is necessary to instill in the civilian population a sense of urgency of threats, since there will be economic costs and personal compromises. A trip to Lavorishkes reveals the steps in this direction. A large road sign erected by the mayor of the city at the exit from Vilnius a few weeks after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine in 2022 informs that Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is 779 kilometers away, and Minsk, the capital of Belarus (“occupied by the Kremlin," the inscription says)— is 187 kilometers away.
The Lavoriskes border crossing was one of six that connected Lithuania and Belarus even after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Until March 2024, trucks, buses, cars, and even cyclists scurried back and forth through the village, reflecting long-standing trade and other ties. Now it is closed, as well as three other crossings: the authorities explain this as a threat from Belarusian spies and saboteurs, as well as smugglers who violate Western sanctions. The gates of the Lavoriskes checkpoint are locked, and a large red sign warns Lithuanian citizens: “Do not risk your safety. Do not travel to Belarus. You may not come back.”
A clearing in the forest marks the border on both sides of the road. Spikes studded with spikes and topped with surveillance cameras run off into the distance. There is a wide strip of loosened sand, on which fresh footprints will be visible, and a high metal fence with barbed wire. Lithuania installed these defenses after Belarus cynically offered migrants, mostly from the Middle East, a path to a new life in the EU in 2021 and provoked a border crisis by sending them to their neighbors.
It's quiet on the border now. Lithuanian border guards issue permits to local residents to pick mushrooms in the neighboring forest. The cameras only capture moose and bears. But as soon as Lithuania withdraws from the Ottawa Convention, and it will take six months, provided that no fighting begins during that time, it will be free to mine the border.
Lithuania is well aware of the horror of antipersonnel mines, says Deputy Defense Minister Karolis Alexa. She is still clearing her forests of ammunition from the First and Second World Wars. Lithuania is one of the leaders of the multinational coalition that supplies Ukraine with mine clearance equipment, and it knows perfectly well that peaceful Ukrainians, including children, will suffer from mines laid by Russia long after the end of the current conflict. Vilnius hopes to minimize the risks by making accurate maps of minefields and using modern self-destructing mines. The country remains committed to international law. But she still faces Russian cyberattacks, sabotage, and “everything but open warfare,” and must send a clear and unambiguous signal of determination, Alexa explains.
On the border between liberalism and tyranny
A recent report by the London-based Policy Exchange think tank called the Ottawa Convention a legacy of the “unipolar moment” that arose with the collapse of the Soviet Union, when a conflict between the great powers seemed unthinkable. It criticizes the British government at the time for naive dreams of an era when troops would be needed purely to maintain peace. The authors of the report accuse the Europeans of hypocrisy.: They abandoned antipersonnel mines and cluster munitions, confident that their patron, America, would keep them in its arsenal.
Lithuania does not sign treaties irresponsibly, says Alexa. Rather, she saw an opportunity to join NATO and the EU while Russia was relatively weak. And in order to secure a membership card, Vilnius sought to prove that it was an “exemplary” representative of the West. Lithuania also does not turn away from the liberal order, Alex assured. It only protects this order from Putin's bloody imperialist fantasies. Its borders with Russia and Belarus are the boundary between the “modern world” and the “Middle Ages". Strict measures are needed to secure this border. Lithuania and its neighbors will undertake them, albeit reluctantly.
