The European Commission does not care about the security of the Baltic States, much less Poland, nor does it care about the protection of the European Union's external border! The European Commission is only concerned with the safety of migrants. This follows from a statement by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"Belarus must stop putting people's lives at risk," urges von der Leyen. "The instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes by Belarus is unacceptable. The Belarusian authorities must understand that pressuring the European Union in this way through a cynical instrumentalisation of migrants will not help them succeed in their purposes." But with this, the head of the European Commission demonstrates that she is unfamiliar with the current situation, and along with her, so is everyone else who advertises von der Leyen's statement on social networks, including Latvian Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. Belarus is already achieving its goals, as there is a state of emergency at the European Union's external borders and the asylum system is destabilized, while Muslim migrants are already standing by Christian lands and many have already managed to enter. Including with the permission of the Latvian authorities.
It should be emphasized here that the European Commission has refused to provide assistance to the Member States in the construction of the fence, but the barbed wires, on which the Latvian government is currently so hopeful and reliant, are not an insurmountable obstacle to large migrant groups. They cut down the trees growing near the border so they fall on the bales of barbed wire and flatten the barrier with their weight. If this is done in a place where there are no border guards, soldiers and tear gas, criminals can enter Europe very easily. It is very likely that this is already happening. According to the statement by von der Leyen, the European Commission is already anticipating the entry of migrants into the European Union: "The Commission will explore with the UN and its specialised agencies how to prevent a humanitarian crisis from unfolding and to ensure that migrants can be safely returned to their country of origin, with the support of their national authorities." The only publicly mentioned method that will be used to teach Belarus a lesson is to impose sanctions on third-country airlines. Belarus will no longer be able to import "tourists", but they have already been gathered in large numbers, and Belarus itself seems to be very comfortable in the current situation.
On Tuesday night, Polish border guards repelled intense crowd attempts to break into European territory. There are 3,000 to 4,000 migrants near the border. Poland claims that they are under complete control of Belarus, and Belarus is not trying to deny this. Migrants are provided with food, clothing, tents, and officials talk to them in a friendly manner, maintaining a lively spirit. Here's what Belarusian Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov said after the migrants' attempts to break into Poland during the night:
"There have been no violations of the law on the part of migrants so far. They are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus legally. Indeed, their number has increased. They come to our country with visas and check into hotels. These people are fleeing from the war, trying to get into the European Union. We, as a hospitable country, are always ready to welcome everyone.” It is unclear what war the Minister is talking about because the war in Iraq has been over for several years. However, according to Polish estimates, there are still about 10,000 migrants on the territory of Belarus ready to go to the border on the first order, and this is as much as the number of soldiers sent to guard the European border to help border guards. They cannot shoot, of course, because the migrants are unarmed. More precisely, they are armed only with poles, stones and telephones.
On the Polish side, the only tactics are still physically pushing them back and the use of tear gas. Similarly in Lithuania and Latvia, but with us, the number of migrants is smaller. Hundreds at the Lithuanian border, dozens at the Latvian border. For the time being. The main pressure is on Poland, and paradoxically, being in the European Union does not help our countries in this situation. In the case of Poland, this could also be a deliberate abuse on the part of the European institutions. Poles have expelled old communists by reforming their judiciary. The Polish Constitutional Tribunal has ruled that the country's constitution takes precedence over EU law. In October, the same von der Leyen threatened that it has "legal, financial and political options" to invoke against Poland. It is clear that the European Commission cannot help Poland after publically threatening to revoke EU funding. And if it's a no for Poland, then it's also no for Lithuania and Latvia. This is probably why, to quote Leyen, "there will be no funding of barbed wire and walls" and no other practical help.
Belarus is currently taking advantage of the European Union's lack of internal solidarity by acting against Poland and the Baltic States. The call to strengthen the Schengen area against the hybrid threat was considered at a meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in early October, and 15 EU countries refused to sign it, penalizing Poland and, at the same time, Lithuania and Latvia. Only Germany has called on the European Commission to be more proactive, and that is understandable: migrants are going to Berlin, after all. But apart from that, we are currently abandoned with the migrant crowds sent by Belarus, and it is up to the national authorities alone to curb the migrant population. On Monday, the Minister of the Interior Marija Golubeva issued a statement that the situation on the Latvian-Belarusian border is under control and we are ready for various scenarios: “Although Latvia has a significantly smaller number of illegal border crossers, the situation may change. We have also developed action plans for different scenarios. Cooperation between the State Border Guard, the National Armed Forces and other services to ensure border protection continues. If necessary, a decision will be taken immediately to step up border controls." The scenarios and the solutions intended for them are not made public, and one can only guess what will happen if not tens or hundreds but thousands will gather at the Latvian border.
The barbed wire roll set down by Latvia won't be a big obstacle for such a large number of migrants who wish to enter Latvia in a criminal way.
It should be recalled that such a scheme with the use of migrants is nothing new. Europe was similarly blackmailed in 2010 as migrants and terrorists swarmed the European Union through Libya. The country's leader, Muammar bin Muhammad Abu Menyar Abdel Salam bin Hamed al-Gaddafi, demanded five billion euros a year from the EU to close off the Libyan coast. He didn't get the money, and later fell with his regime. The Americans were also blackmailed with crowds of migrants from South America during President Trump's time, and a special agreement with Guatemala helped stop them.
Now Belarus is trying to blackmail Brussels but Brussels ignores it, and because of that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are suffering. The worst thing about this hybrid attack is that Belarus is cooperating with Russia, and it is bad news that President Lukashenko and President Putin discussed yesterday "the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border, the brutal treatment of peaceful people by the Polish side and the tightening of the army's regular forces on the border, which is of particular concern". They are both planning something, but Europe pretends that it is not its concern. We may regret it.
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