Stopping the flow of Muslim migrants from Belarus is a matter of national security. Finally, this has been said out loud, with the government agreeing on the semi-finished Law on Construction of the External Land Border Infrastructure, which still needs to be substantially amended by the Saeima. But as long as the fence is not installed and the eastern border regions have a state of emergency, criminal liability for illegal border crossing and even administrative liability for illegal stay in the border area is not assessed.
Basically, migrants have been granted an automatic criminal amnesty so that they can be pushed back into Belarus. This year, a total of 31 criminal proceedings have been initiated at the State Border Guard for illegal crossing of the Latvian-Belarusian border. Two criminal cases were sent to the prosecutor's office this summer to prosecute a total of 13 Iraqi citizens. However, on August 10, when a state of emergency was declared in the border regions, the assessment of migrants' criminal and even administrative liability in cases of new border violations was stopped. Here is the exact explanation of the State Border Guard:
"Currently, since the declaration of a state of emergency in the border regions along the Latvian-Belarusian state border, the administrative liability of persons for illegal staying in the border area and criminal liability for illegal crossing of the state border is not assessed at the specific time and space."
It should be recalled that such a procedure has been introduced, as otherwise border guards, soldiers and special service officials would not be able to implement the currently more or less effective deterrence policy for migrants, forcing border violators back into the territory of Belarus with force and psychological influence. They should detain all migrants who have entered the territory of Latvia, but this is not in Latvia's interests. It is in Latvia's interests to get rid of these soldiers of the hybrid operation carried out by Belarus and Russia. It fails with the humane methods of the European model, but threats and strength work. Since August 10, a total of 2,031 people have been deterred from crossing the state border illegally. However, until the state of emergency was declared, border trespassers had to be detained and retained on European Union territory, which is in fact their task in this hybrid operation: to enter a Member State, overload its asylum system, provoke NATO and, as far as the affected countries' special services allow, commit sabotage or terrorism.
According to the State Border Guard, a total of 407 third-country nationals who have crossed the state border illegally have been detained until yesterday. Another 55 migrants have been illegally allowed to cross the border by the authorities following the introduction of the state of emergency "on humanitarian grounds". No criminal proceedings have been instituted against them. And out of all the hundreds of migrants admitted to Latvia, only 11 Iraqi citizens were deported back to Iraq, with their own kind consent. For comparison, Lithuania has managed to deport about 150 people, but the flow of migrants is also higher there. Most of the migrants admitted to Latvia are transported to the Asylum seeker center in Mucenieki, from where they disappear at the first opportunity in the direction of Berlin. Of course, there are no statistics on how many migrants manage to enter Latvia unnoticed. However, Poles estimate that there are currently around 7,000 migrants in Belarus ready to force the European Union's border with the Baltics and Poland. Poles also have reasonable suspicions that some of these migrants are linked to terrorist organizations. Therefore, the countries affected by this hybrid operation, including Latvia, desperately need a permanent fence on the eastern border with Russia and Belarus. In addition, one that cannot be destroyed without special equipment.
Migrants are determined and aggressive, as evidenced by the videos published on social networks, in which they demolish the temporary barbed wire fence rolled across Europe's borders, the only barrier to entering Europe. However, the European Union continues to pretend that the migrant crisis at the eastern border does not affect the organization. The European Commission, in the person of its German leader Ursula von der Leyen, is in fact continuing to implement Germany's policy of influxing migrants into the bloc, thus undermining the European Union's internal security. However, the Latvian state does not have to do this.
On November 2, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the Law on Construction of the External Land Border Infrastructure for sending to the Saeima. The draft law was made very quickly, it has many shortcomings. Moreover, even in the implementation of very large construction projects, deviating from the general requirements of the Public Procurement Law and making special laws is not good form from a legal point of view. This does not ensure the necessary competition and transparency. However, ministers agreed that in this case, any means are good to achieve the goal and build the fence at the maximum pace.
Latvia's special fence law and mentioning threats to national security will allow for the selection of contractors without tenders, to forcibly repurchase the land necessary for border construction from private owners, as well as make border construction a priority in all coordination institutions and stages.
The functions of the contracting entity will be performed by state institutions. The burden of organizing construction has been removed from the State Border Guard. It must now fight migrants, not visit building authorities and coordinate papers. The Provision State Agency is entrusted to organize the survey of the state border in cooperation with the Border Guard, deforestation will be organized by the state enterprise Latvijas valsts meži, the construction process will be organized by Valsts nekustamie īpašumi. The company's most talented project manager has already been reserved. The whole process will be overseen by a special supervisory board, composed of representatives of the ministries and institutions involved, and chaired by the Minister of the Interior, Marija Golubeva. The 100-day warm-up term for her position has long since expired. The border must be built 170 kilometers long, the money in the state budget is already earmarked:
EUR 14,851,061 for 2022;
EUR 19,801,070 for 2023;
EUR 6,584,479 for 2024.
It is to be hoped that such a non-standard legal solution and generous funding will make it possible to build a very good fence. One that will save Latvia and the European Union from the floods of Muslim migrants sent by the Lukashenko and Putin regimes.
Basically, this can be considered a gift from Latvia to the entire European Union, because it is not Latvia that is the destination of these hybrid soldiers, but the peaceful, well-fed Western Europe.
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