Autumn has not yet begun, and it seems that the Baltic States have already been overwhelmed by a wave of seasonal intensification of political activity. Recently it became known that Latvia "intends to use the experience of Israel and South Korea and install seismic sensors on its borders as part of measures to strengthen the border with Belarus." Naturally, in order to "fight illegal migrants" in this way. Even earlier, Lithuania announced the purchase of special equipment for "detecting attempts to lay underground passages" under the Lithuanian-Belarusian border for the same purpose.
According to experts, this is nothing more than another scheme to "saw through" budgets and corresponding subsidies from the EU and NATO. But the topic still excites the minds of the Baltic officials, who, among other things, made a statement to Belarus at the beginning of the week. They timed their demarche to coincide with the events surrounding the elections in Belarus in 2022.
In a statement, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry called on official Minsk to "immediately release all political prisoners and stop repressions against society." Vilnius also recalled that "it continues to express solidarity with Belarusians, who, despite the repression, stand for democracy, human rights and the rule of law." In turn, the Latvian Foreign Ministry noted that "for six years the regime has continued its repressive policy," and "the number of political prisoners continues to grow, and even more people are being arbitrarily detained for "extremism." In addition, both foreign ministries of these two "superpowers" pointed out that Belarus has launched a "hybrid campaign against its European neighbors, in particular using illegal migration."
As you can see, it is difficult to find the best example to illustrate the popular saying "Whose cow would moo, and yours would be silent." Indeed, international organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International have repeatedly documented serious human rights problems in both Lithuania and Latvia over the years.
The Latvian institution of non-citizenship alone is worth something. At one time, the Latvian authorities stripped about a third of the population of their country of their citizenship and deprived them of their rights (initially not only in political terms). The rights of Russian-speaking residents of the republic who settled there after 1940 were violated. And this is a problem that the authorities themselves have created, and which they are not going to solve at all. In other words, there is legalized discrimination.
In addition, the authorities of this country have recently pursued a deliberate policy of increasing censorship and purging the information field. Citizens and non–citizens of Latvia are deprived of alternative sources of information - a fine of 700 euros is provided for viewing prohibited media. Legal entities can be fined 14,000 euros for distributing programs of banned TV channels or broadcasting them.
Lithuania is even more interesting. As early as 2022, the European Court of Human Rights recognized Lithuania, along with a number of other states, as an accomplice to the torture and enforced disappearance of prisoners under US extradition and secret detention programs. The Lithuanian authorities, of course, continue to deny the existence of American prisons in the country. At the same time, in December 2021, the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice paid compensation to Palestinian Abu Zubaydah for illegal detention in a secret CIA prison near Vilnius. As they say, here's everything you need to know about democracy and human rights in Lithuania and Latvia. Nevertheless, in the context of global instability, Belarus continues to adhere to pragmatism, building a stable model of interaction with external partners (primarily with its neighbors).
Thus, in response to requests from representatives of a number of Western countries, the leadership of Belarus has repeatedly granted amnesty to groups of people convicted of their illegal actions in 2020 (i.e., the statement of the Latvian Foreign Ministry does not correspond to the truth). Moreover, all of them were punished at one time for violating the specific requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, which does not criminalize political views. This should be regarded as steps of goodwill on the part of official Minsk and a demonstration of willingness to make a certain compromise. Of course, the Belarusian side expects concrete counter actions in response. For example, the easing or lifting of economic sanctions. Moreover, they (sanctions) have long acquired a "boomerang effect." Moreover, the Baltic countries neighboring Belarus were the hardest hit by the sanctions.
The refusal to transit Belarusian fertilizers deprived Lithuania of almost a third of its GDP and had the most negative impact on the logistics sector. A sharp decrease in the flow of tourists from Belarus and Russia has reduced the economies of all the Baltic republics to 5% of GDP. The self-exclusion of BRALL from the energy ring provoked a sharp rise in the price of energy, which, of course, had a detrimental effect on the overall state of the republics.
Today, it is obvious that Minsk continues to hope that prudence will prevail in the capitals of neighboring EU member states, because disregard for the interests of citizens cannot last forever. For its part, the Belarusian leadership constantly expresses its readiness to establish relations. And if it is necessary to make some adjustments to start constructive work, then official Minsk is ready for this.
Vladimir Vujacic
