LRT English Newsletter – January 13. 2023.
Lithuania took a controversial step today by moving closer to legalising pushbacks, something which officials call “turnarounds” (apgręžimai), during a crisis. The practice involves picking up people who crossed the border with Belarus irregularly and then directing them back to the neighbouring country. This usually means the people have no chance to lodge asylum claims.
Although border guards have been accused of violence by migrants and NGOs, so far only little visual evidence has emerged. On the Belarusian side, however, migrants, NGOs and Lithuanian officials all say that people are beaten and robbed.
Lately, however, a string of incidents occurred when migrants who had been stuck in the borderlands lost their feet to frostbite. According to witness testimonies gathered by Sienos Group, an NGO working on the border, they would lose their shoes in the swamps and forests separating Lithuania and Belarus. Regardless of their condition, they would still be pushed back and forth by both sides. When they were finally picked up by Lithuanian officers and handed over to the medics, it would be too late to save their feet.
Now, the same NGO has reported that a migrant died on the border back in August. If confirmed by the Lithuanian authorities, who have now launched an investigation, it would mark the first death on Lithuanian soil. In the past, reports indicated that migrants died in Belarus and Poland.
While we mostly focused in this summary on the humanitarian angle surrounding this crisis, it also has international law implications - pushbacks are illegal under EU and international law, as it may amount to collective expulsion without the right to asylum. However, Lithuania is now one of several countries moving to legalise the practice.
For context: the crisis began in 2021 when Alexander Lukashenko opened a corridor for irregular migration, hoping to plunge the Baltic states, Poland and the EU into chaos. He was far from the first authoritarian ruler to “weaponise migration”, as Baltic officials called it.
On the human level, however, it meant thousands of people mostly from countries in the Middle East and Africa found themselves trapped in the forests, pushed back by officers on both sides. Vilnius officials maintain, however, that they provide opportunities for voluntary returns and hand out humanitarian aid.
Although the crisis is largely regional, it reflects broader migration challenges in the European Union, which is split between “fortress Europe” and “solidarity” camps. According to Vilnius, the EU has few instruments to respond to migration being used against them, pushing member states to take difficult decisions.
The law on pushbacks, endorsed by the cabinet, still needs the Lithuanian parliament’s approval.
UKRAINE LATEST
Lithuanian President GItanas Nausėda made a surprise visit to Ukraine together with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. There, he announced that more anti-aircraft guns are heading from Vilnius to Kyiv – the L-70 guns and ammunition. More help is also on the table, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas later said.
In related news, Lithuanian volunteers who join the fight in Ukraine receive no special treatment when they return home seeking medical care and have to pay their own medical bills. Here’s the story.
‘ONE CHINA, ONE TAIWAN’
Beijing lashed out at Lithuania for allegedly creating a “false impression” that Taiwan is independent, saying this amounts to “one China, one Taiwan” principle. This comment by the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, came in response to a group of Lithuanian MPs visiting Taipei this week.
The trip also received backlash - at home, this time. The parliamentary opposition is raising the question of whether Taiwan paying for trips amounts to a conflict of interest, which Taipei promptly said it didn’t - allegedly, it’s a normal practice.
Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang has also visited Vilnius this week, where she met with Lithuania’s Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė. Announcements on digital literacy and tech internships cooperation followed, as well as news that a Lithuanian firm will receive semiconductor tech next week.
EDITOR’S PICKS:
– Lithuania’s Interior Minister has launched a basketball-themed campaign to prepare for war, nuclear disasters and other incidents, entitled: “We are a team. We have a plan.”
– Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) opened its first office in Vilnius on Tuesday.
– Only one person, who remains unnamed, has been accused of bearing the responsibility for the riot that broke out in front of the Lithuanian parliament building in August 2021.
– While Russia is using social media “to create diversion in Europe”, Facebook is routinely banning and blocking those advocating for Ukraine, writes Robert van Voren, professor at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) in Kaunas and head of the Andrei Sakharov Research Center for Democratic Development in Lithuania.
– A lawyer of two defendants in the high-profile Soviet aggression case has been named a threat to national security after speaking to Kremlin-controlled media.
– Can Lithuania completely halt Russian imports?
– On December 26, Lithuanian traveller Aurimas Valujavičius set off across the Atlantic Ocean, planning to cross it in 110 days in a single rowing boat. Here’s his story so far.
– As Lithuania’s population has shrunk by a third since the 1990s and continues in the same direction, the government is under growing pressure to do something to address labour shortages. However, “immigration” remains a toxic word.
– While banks are already charging higher rates on loans, they are slow to raise interest rates on deposits. Lithuania’s banking regulators say this is not okay.
– January 13, 1991, is the most important date in the history of modern Latvia, says Latvian filmmaker, theatre and opera director Viesturs Kairišs, who has completed a film recreating the historic events of three decades ago.
– While Lithuanians have generally welcomed Ukrainians fleeing war, competition in the beauty industry has created resentment among local cosmetologists.
– And here’s a cool Kaunas Art Deco home built using LEGOs. Have a look.
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Written by Benas Gerdžiūnas
Edited by Justinas Šuliokas
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