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Contrary to President Lukashenko’s announcement, Belarus has not closed its borders with Europe for the time being. However, controls have been tightened.
The borders of Belarus remain open. During a speech in Minsk on Thursday evening, Head of State Lukashenko announced the closure of the borders and the mobilization of half of the national army along the borders with Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine, and stated that it a “hot war” was coming.
Especially the two EU and NATO members, Poland and Lithuania, are about to start a war, Lukashenko said on Thursday, according to the state news agency Belta. “Therefore, we are forced to withdraw the army from the streets, put half the army in combat readiness and close the borders to the west, especially with Lithuania and Poland,” he said.
The situation at the state border is not significantly different
“The situation at the state border has not changed significantly overnight,” Lithuanian border guard chief Rustamas Liubajevas told the BNS news agency on Friday. “Of course, border traffic slowed a bit overnight, but vehicles and people continue to cross the state border.” Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Bartosz Grodecki also said, according to the PAP agency, that traffic at the border crossings with Belarus is flowing.
The Belarusian border guards admitted in the morning that the checkpoints were still operating according to their capabilities. However, border protection has been strengthened. All measures were taken taking into account further development, he said in a statement distributed on the Telegram news channel.
State of emergency in Belarus
Since the controversial presidential elections in Belarus on August 9, Lukashenko, who has ruled authoritarianly for 26 years, has faced massive protests. Hundreds of thousands of people regularly take to the streets against the president, accusing him of electoral fraud and calling for new elections. The country’s security forces repress the protesters with great severity.
Lukashenko has accused NATO of concentrating troops in Poland and Lithuania along the border with Belarus. Warsaw, Vilnius and NATO rejected his accusations as unfounded.
Sanctions are requested against the head of state Lukashenko
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has spoken out in favor of direct sanctions against Lukashenko. To this end, parliamentarians passed a resolution on Thursday in Brussels. Punitive measures are aimed at those responsible for fraudulent elections and the repression of peaceful protests. Currently, the EU is preparing sanctions. However, it was unclear if Lukashenko would also be on this list. At the same time, the EU parliamentarians indirectly recognized the opposition Svetlana Tichanovskaya as a temporary representative of Belarus.
Tichanovskaya ran against Lukashenko in the presidential elections. Shortly after the elections, the opposition went into exile in Lithuania. Today, Monday, Tichanowskaya will meet with the EU foreign affairs officer, Josep Borrell, and the EU foreign ministers for talks in Brussels. The EU also wants to advise on sanctions against Minsk.
