On Tuesday, when parliamentarians in the country voted unanimously to impose a state of emergency, the border villages were already full of military transport. According to the locals, this is not the usual picture for them at the first week. The reinforced forces have been in place since the summer, when the migrant crisis began.
After spending the whole day near the border with Belarus, I was stopped for the first time and checked only at dusk, at about 8 p.m.
“You are in the border area,” the police officer explained the reason for the suspension. At first he politely asked for personal and car documents, after which he ordered to get out and open the trunk.
I ask if there are any illegal migrants in the area, to which the officer replies, “We are driving and watching not to walk. Let’s make sure no one is driving the machines.
In the trunk, the officer is interested in a sleeping bag, but when he explains that he has been here since the summer, the policeman wishes him a good trip.
When midnight comes, I drive slowly on the unpaved road towards the village of Musteika – here even a day sometimes it turns out to be illegal migrants. Suddenly the beacons turn on behind me.
I stop, the policeman who arrives only asks for an identity document and asks what I am doing here. When I am explained that I am a journalist, I am immediately moved on.
I still ask if a lot of border violations have been recorded in these neighborhoods, he replies to each other. 281 migrants tried to enter the country in Lithuania last day.
After passing the village of Musteika, I turn onto the road towards Belarus, but I do not agree with anything here. Eventually, the forest road becomes increasingly difficult to cross, so without risking getting stuck, I turn back.
I pass the border guards and find myself in the village of Kabeliai. In it, I pass by a soldier’s car that turns around and starts driving behind it with long lights.
Thinking that this is how they try to stop me, I start to slow down fast and turn around, but the soldiers just bypass me. Now I’m driving after them, but they suddenly start to slow down. Finally we both stop along the way.
The soldiers are in no hurry to get out, so I go to them myself, I explain that I work here. They ask if I have permission to be here. I answer that I was recently stopped by the police and allowed to continue driving.
The soldiers say how long to wait – they will check the situation with the border guards. He comes back in a minute and says I can stay in the border area.
I move on, I still drive on gravel roads, but when the situation is off the main road, I calm down – I do not agree with either the officials or the migrants.
Finally, I drive towards Marcinkoniai – two police minibuses stand in the way. At first, I think this is the first serious sign of a state of emergency, a checkpoint. However, when they arrived, the officers immediately left the road and it soon became clear that their colleagues had just stopped to shout on the empty road between the villages.
A police car is also parked at the intersection in Marcinkonis. Forces were apparently reinforced, but at least journalists were not barred from working in the border area on the first night.
However, after trying to get there the same day, it was no longer possible to do so. A police car was parked near the start of the border section. The young border guard, after talking to the commander over the phone, informed that the journalist could not travel further.
The very first night of the emergency was incredibly quiet all over Lithuania – only one group of 10 migrants was recorded trying to enter the country in the morning. But the situation can change at any time.
“I want to say that we also monitor social networks and have information from other sources. There is a lot of such data, the movement at the state border is going on. Even here, our officials hear the sounds of heavy machinery on Belarusian territory, which could mean that the trucks are traveling possibly with illegal migrants. The fact is that illegal migrants are really being transported by representatives of the Belarusian law enforcement authorities and they are being pushed into the territory of Lithuania, ”said the head of the SBGS Rustamas Liubajevs on Wednesday morning.
A state of emergency has ensued
The Seimas on Tuesday approved the introduction of a state of emergency at the border and 5 kilometers from it. Such a regime is introduced for the first time in the history of an independent country.
The government proposed the introduction of a state of emergency in response to migrant troops on the border with neighboring Poland. This regime will last for one month.
Since the beginning of August, when the order for border guards to implement the policy of returning migrants trying to enter the country illegally came into force, more than 6,000 of them have not entered Lithuania.
The state of emergency is declared in the entire border section near the Lithuanian state border with Belarus and 5 kilometers deep from the state. Also – in the accommodation places of foreigners (in the territory of the Aliens Registration Center in Pabradė, in the territory of Medininkai Aliens Registration Center and in the territory of Kybartai Aliens Registration Center, in the territory of the Refugee Reception Center in Rukla and next to it, in the Naujininkai refugee camp of the Refugee Reception Center) and 200 meters around them.
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