Belarus border fence remains in the builder's storage

The Latvian government offers a new way and justification for illegal migrants to enter the European Union. It is a deterioration of health. One falls ill with Covid, self-injures or otherwise creates medically confirmed health issues, and a whole group can enter because the border guards are ordered not to separate families. However, more broadly, it is possible for border crossers to enter the country because there is no fence. More precisely, there is a fence - at least in part, but it is located not on the border, but in the builder's storage.

SIA Igate is the construction company for which an exclusive agreement has been concluded with the State Border Guard on the performance of construction works at the state border. Even though the Ministry of the Interior is now trying to come up with all sorts of interpretations and reservations, in essence, the agreement promises the builder work on the state border, depending on the customer's financial capabilities. If there is money - we will build, if there is none - we will not build. Right now, there is money. There also was before. However, for two years since the border scandal began, no new work has been ordered and the work done has not been accepted.

Border guards work on a construction site

A 250-kilometer-long fence and infrastructure have been built on the Latvian-Russian border. It is actively used, but border guards basically work on a construction site not yet in service. Work done has simply not been accepted. The amount of work done on the Latvian-Belarusian border, which is currently under attack by criminals, is a complete zero. Meanwhile, the company's warehouse has materials for installing a fence 30 kilometers long. Lithuanian intermediaries have already offered to buy it, but Latvia has to build the fence for itself. In theory, under the current agreement, the government could immediately order the resumption of work, by November such a distance could be completed. But instead, the Minister of the Interior is proposing that the government build a temporary fence. More precisely, to drop bundles of barbed wire on the ground, which together with the stationary fence to be built later will cost more. Māris Peilāns, Chairman of the Board of Igate, and his colleague Jurģis Kijoneks spoke about this situation at a press conference yesterday.

Deviations in the project are legalized

Of course, the company wants to continue working, because it wants to earn and regain its reputation. It is also clear why the Minister of the Interior took a break from border construction a few years ago. It was necessary to understand what to do next if criminal proceedings were instituted against the builders and border guards in connection with the construction of the eastern border. But the ministry did not come to any conclusion and did nothing. Even the process of acquiring the land required for the construction of the border, which has no connection with the builder, was suspended.

It should be recalled that the initiated criminal case was based on alleged fraud of 17 million and deviations from the construction project on the Latvian-Russian border. As far as Peilāns can talk about the criminal proceedings, he claims that the amount of the offense has significantly decreased during these two years. In its turn, the Saeima has made amendments to the regulatory enactments, which in essence legalize deviations from the project and the actual location of border structures. Neatkarīgā has already explained why the border guard required the builder to make deviations from the project. Not everywhere patrol routes and fences can be built exactly on the border line. Somewhere it goes over water, elsewhere better visibility is needed. Now the border infrastructure will be allowed not to follow the exact national border line. Another thing is that these changes in the project have not been properly recorded. The State Audit Office has acknowledged that it could have been recorded better. Neatkarīgā wrote more about the origin of the Eastern scandal here: “Eastern border. Could be built for pigs, not for migrants”.

Igate continues to work for the state

In nature, the fence built on the Russian border is longer than mentioned in the ministry's report to the government. Not 93, but 250 kilometers. This is because the object has not been accepted into service. And the Ministry also does not say why it was not accepted or when it will be accepted. The Ministry simply does not communicate with the company. And no further explanation is provided to the public. The Ministry just confirms that the agreement with Igate is still in force, but what follows is not clear.

Of course, the situation is quite tricky. The Office of Internal Security, which reports directly to Minister Marija Golubeva, is supposed to be conducting criminal proceedings, but for two years now, nothing has been moving forward. The Head of the Border Guard Guntis Pujāts and his Deputy Juris Martukāns were detained. The court ordered to release them, and the suspicions were so vague that there was no reason to dismiss them. Things are similar for Peilāns, Chairman of the Board of Igate. Although he was unofficially blacklisted by the Ministry of the Interior, his company continues to start in other state and municipal orders - it builds roads, builds streets. And by the way, in another large-scale scandal - in the case of a builders' cartel - Igate's name does not appear. Consequently, there is no justification for not building the border. If there was a fence on the border with Belarus, the Ministry of the Interior would not have to think of new ways to legalize the entry of migrants into Latvia.

Meanwhile, on the Latvian border

Yes, even after the declaration of a state of emergency and the introduction of measures to deter migrants, border violators are admitted to Latvia. In addition, not only children, their mothers and the sick, but also fully capable men. The Ministry explains this on humanitarian grounds. If a migrant needs medical help, he or she is taken in without separating families.

So in a group that pretends to be relatives or really is a family, only one has to get sick so that all the other relatives can get inside.

This is probably why criminals take a certain number of children, women and the disabled with them on the dangerous path. Their mission is to activate the European Union's compassion mechanism. Adviser to the Minister of the Interior Linda Curika admits that in theory, such a scheme with the deliberate use of poor health status to enter Latvia is possible. Intentional self-harm as a pass:

"In theory, of course, it is possible. But it must be taken into account that the fact that they come to Latvia does not mean that they will be granted asylum.” But they are already inside the European Union. After the declaration of a state of emergency, there are already 25 people, but the total number of illegal residents admitted to the country this year is close to 400. And there is no reason to believe that they are not ready to commit future crimes. Here again, the warning of the State Security Service should be repeated that radical and dangerous persons may also be among these persons. These people use even young children to achieve their goals, exposing them to life-threatening situations.

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