Kęstutis Girnius. The politics of values ​​at the border of Lithuania?

 "Lithuania's behavior towards migrants seeking to enter the country's territory is receiving more and more criticism from international organizations. Although the government's initial reaction to the influx of illegal migrants last summer was understandable and justified, the government's policy is to consider migration as an act of hybrid warfare and turn all migrants back, despite the changed circumstances, is partly illegal and immoral.

 

    Islamophobia and racism played a role in the formation of this shameful policy, which is not compatible with the values' policy constantly announced by the Lithuanian government.

    At the end of June, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) adopted a ruling indicating that the legal norms of Lithuania, which do not provide opportunities for illegal migrants to request asylum and allow them to be detained simply for entering the country illegally, are contrary to European Union directives. Such behavior is not acceptable even in the event of an emergency or state of emergency. At the beginning of the month, based on this CJEU interpretation, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SCA) recognized the status of one asylum seeker, annulled the previous decision to detain him and emphasized that in order to justify the detention of a foreigner because he allegedly poses a threat to public or national security, it is necessary to indicate what specific alien's actions would create such a risk. That's a high, tough bar to beat.

 

    A little earlier, the Fundamental Rights Office of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency "Frontex" criticized Lithuania for the collective rejection of migrants by border guards, noting that such practice is against international law and the European Convention on Human Rights, and the possibility of submitting an asylum request at the border checkpoint does not really work. "Amnesty International" criticized the behavior of Lithuanian officials with migrants, proposed to stop the policy of turning away, to release all asylum seekers and illegal migrants. After visiting the Medininkai Migrant Camp, Seimas Controller E. Leonaitė asserted that the accommodation conditions and long-term detention in them, not allowing them to freely leave the camp territory, is equivalent to behavior that degrades human dignity.

 

    The Lithuanian Minister of Internal Affairs, A. Bilotaitė, did not pay attention to the accusations. They are unfounded, migrants have nothing to complain about, there will be no major changes. Other officials claimed that they are not expelling migrants, but only not allowing them into the territory of Lithuania, so they are not violating international law. At the beginning of the month, Bilotaitė hinted that a law was being prepared that would legalize the search of migrants at the border. Now the ministry speaks differently. Vice-Chairman of the Seimas, member of the Freedom Party, Vytautas Mitalas, admitted that mistakes were made, they should be acknowledged and taken "more on the path of peace than on the path of pitting our policy against EU policy". This is a welcome step - the Freedom Party should care about freedom and its unjustified restrictions.

 

    The authorities sought to demonize the newcomers, presenting them almost as conscious volunteers of Lukashenka's hybrid war. Migrants were often portrayed as well-off young people armed with expensive watches and phones, paying thousands of euros to travel, rather than as refugees from a war zone seeking political shelter or a chance for a better life.

 

    The influx of refugees last year was unexpected, it was orchestrated by the Belarusian authorities in order to harm Lithuania. In a short time, Lithuania was reached by 4.2 thousands migrants, but such a number neither created an uncontrollable danger to the security of the country, nor an insurmountable challenge for the organizations that had to house and feed them. The authorities sought to demonize the newcomers, presenting them almost as conscious volunteers of Lukashenka's hybrid war.

 

    I have to admit that at first I believed this narrative/propaganda, I welcomed the actions of the authorities as necessary measures to curb Lukashenka's designs. But from the first days it was clear that the migrants were neither saboteurs hiding in the forests of Dzūkija, ready to carry out sabotage and other military operations, nor specially trained Russian or Belarusian security forces, intending to promote mistrust of the Lithuanian authorities, organize a fifth column and take other destabilizing actions. The image of an illegal migrant, God forbid, a non-political refugee created by the authorities did not match the profile of later arriving and turned back migrants and their families.

 

    At that time, I believed that when the future migrants learned that their hopes of reaching Western Europe were futile, that they were not waiting for a taxi trip to Berlin, but an internment in a camp on the border of Lithuania, the flow of migrants would decrease, if not completely disappear. It was naive. The road to Europe through the forests of Belarus and Lithuania, even during the coldest winter months, is incomparably safer than a boat trip across the Mediterranean Sea. If you fail to cross the border, you can go back, try again, next time. There is no such option if you sink to the bottom of the sea.

 

    It is convenient to talk about hybrid aggression. This creates the image of an aggressor cooperating with Russia or Belarus, which seeks to endanger the country, thus justifying strong countermeasures. It is no longer a simple matter of securing borders. Even now, this rhetoric is not abandoned. September 3 State border protection services' commander R. Lyubajevas continued to intimidate, saying that at this time "Lithuania was again chosen as the object of that hybrid attack."

 

    Illegal migration to Europe has been going on for decades. Over two days last May, some 8,000 people, including some 2,000 minors, reached Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city on the Mediterranean coast in North Africa at the Strait of Gibraltar. Madrid did not call it a hybrid attack, although Moroccan officials passively observed the events.

 

    Many Lithuanians believe that there is no place for non-Europeans and non-Christians in Lithuania. This antipathy is not alien to the government. During most of 2015 migration, the then Minister of the Interior S. Skvernelis stated that Lithuania could accept up to 10 fugitives, and only those "who correspond to our cultural characteristics, let's say they are Christians". According to Prime Minister A. Butkevičius, if all capacities are used, we could talk about a group of 40-50 people. In the long run, about 1,000 migrants were accepted.

 

    The policy of values ​​is proud, but when it comes to migrants and refugees, that policy of values ​​differs little, if at all, from the attitudes of Hungarian leader V. Orban. This is shameful, because it is not compatible with the experience of Lithuanians, nor with Christian values, nor with the principles of liberal democracy. It is easier to pretend being virtuous than to be virtuous."

 

Funny thing is that those migrants all want to go to friendly Germany. Nobody wants to stay in Lithuania. Stopping them gives us, Lithuanians, no benefit, only loss of good name and money. Lithuanian Conservatives use racist thinking of some of their followers to get benefits in next elections. The Conservative values ​​policy is as much a lie as all their other policies. The main value for conservatives is to deceive the stupid country ladies and stay in power as long as possible.