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Lithuania and Latvia have joined Poland in bolstering safety on the border with Belarus, amid concern on migrants and Russian mercenaries.
Two rural Belarus-Lithuania border crossings, at Tverečius and Šumskas, can be quickly closed from Friday (18 August), Lithuania mentioned on Wednesday.
The transfer was resulting from “geopolitical circumstances”, the Lithuanian authorities mentioned.
It was designed to assist focus the numbers of border guards on the remaining 4 crossing factors, Lithuania’s deputy transport minister Agnė Vaiciukeviciūte added.
Border-guard go away has been cancelled, with military and police being requested to assist, Lithuanian media additionally reported.
Lithuania has stopped some 1,540 irregular migrants coming through Belarus to date this yr.
It has erected indicators on its facet of the border saying: “Don’t threat your security — don’t journey to Belarus. You might fail to return again”.
And the nation’s border-guard chief, Rustamas Liubajevas, estimated the Russian Wagner mercenary group has stationed as much as 4,500 fighters in Belarus bases close to its frontiers with EU and Nato neighbours.
Lithuania’s transfer got here in the future after Latvia mentioned it was sending troopers to the Belarus border resulting from “details about a doable enhance in hybrid threats”.
Virtually 100 migrants had tried to cross within the 24 hours earlier than the announcement on Tuesday, Latvia mentioned.
“Now we have seen that this summer time the strain from Belarus isn’t lowering, however regularly rising,” Latvian prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš mentioned.
“We’re merely rising our presence and sending a transparent sign to each our personal society and the Belarusian authorities that that is no joke,” he added.
Poland, final week, mentioned it was sending 10,000 troopers to the Belarus border for related causes.
For its half, the Belarus border-guard service complained about Lithuania’s crossing-point closures.
“With these selections, the Lithuanian facet is purposefully and intentionally organising synthetic obstacles on the border to serve its political ambitions”, it mentioned in an announcement.
Belarus flew in hundreds of African and Center Jap migrants and compelled them throughout the border into EU nations in summer time 2021 in a “hybrid” revenge towards Western sanctions.
However even after the 2021 disaster abated, there have been nonetheless 16,000 tried irregular crossings into Poland final yr and 19,000 to date this yr.
The Wagner group partly relocated to Belarus after its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, mutinied towards the Russian military in June.
Each Prigozhin and Wagner’s future stay unsure, however Wagner’s fight models and political-spin departments in Africa have continued to function for the reason that revolt.
It has additionally educated Belarusian troopers and registered as “an academic organisation” within the Asipovichy district within the jap Belarusian area of Mahilyou.
And the Prighozin and Wagner-linked Harmony Administration and Consulting firm has registered in the identical spot, indicating that the Russians have come to remain.
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