Signatures are slowly accumulating on the public initiatives portal on the proposal to close Latvia's border with Russia and Belarus in order to make it more difficult for Russia to wage military aggression in Ukraine. So far, the Latvian authorities continue to reject this request from Ukraine, arguing that it would make sense for all European countries to close the border at the same time. But there is no such agreement, and Latvia is not insisting on one.
Latvia and other European countries continue to supply goods to the Russian Federation, ensuring the circulation of its economy. In the opposite direction, however, all sorts of less harmful anti-Kremlin dissidents and those who only pretend to be dissidents, as well as very harmful little green men and saboteur groups, can come from Russia to Europe with the aim of destabilizing the situation in the border regions. These threats are also the subject of the initiative "ON CLOSING THE BORDER WITH RUSSIA AND BELARUS" registered on the public initiatives portal Mana Balss. Its initiator, Ivo Rubīns, a representative of the military melee organization “Tēvijas sargi”, calls for closing the border with Russia and Belarus in order to stop or make more difficult the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. "It is necessary to close the border crossing points to the movement of persons and goods (competence of the Border Guard of the Ministry of the Interior), if necessary with the support of the National Armed Forces of the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should initiate and coordinate cooperation with Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland to implement similar measures in these countries." The petitioners point out that closing the border to the movement of persons and goods would not only provide significant support to Ukraine, but would also reduce the security threats to our country.
Neatkarīgā asked the institutions involved what they had to say about this, and from the answers, it seems that nothing much has changed since the war started. Latvia's position is that if we close the border, we do it together with the other European countries, but the Latvian government is not trying to prompt the formation of such a position.
At present, in accordance with a joint decision of the Member States of the European Union, the borders are formally closed to Russian and Belarusian road haulers. But it should be stressed that this is only formally, because European carriers are not banned from travelling to Russia, and it is no secret that many companies in Europe are owned by Russian capital. As a result, goods and money continue to travel in the direction of Moscow and Minsk as before. Russian ships are also formally banned from European ports, but there are so many exceptions that very few Russian ships are refused entry to European ports. They are allowed to bring food, medicines, they are allowed to come in for repairs. But if a ship does not qualify for the exceptions, it can just be re-registered in another country. For example, this is what has happened with the Polar Pioneer research vessel, which is currently in the Freeport of Riga. Before the war and the sanctions, it was flying the flag of the Russian Federation, but now it is registered under Cyprus and can sail wherever it wants without making any excuses for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And to import whatever it wants into Europe. It's that simple.
Every euro and every unit of goods that European producers currently send to Russia is feeding and financing the war in Ukraine. And with this free flow of goods, former Kremlin fans, fake oppositionists, Russian capital managers and most likely sleeper agents too, who will be activated at the first Kremlin demand to destabilize the situation in the Baltics, are flowing unhindered into Latvia from Russia. At the moment, it is only the Russian gas supply that is being disrupted, not at the initiative of Latvia and the rest of Europe, but because Russia is blackmailing Europe. Of course, closing the border would inconvenience many people. Both for the border residents, who would no longer be able to visit the neighboring country, for example, to visit their relatives' graves or to buy cheap cigarettes. And for business people who still trade with Russia and Belarus. However, when considering ways of influencing Russia and reducing the threat it poses to our country, closing the border would be one of the most effective and as yet unused options.
Ukraine has repeatedly called on European countries to close their borders with Russia and Belarus. The Latvian public has also started collecting signatures in support of the border closure initiative. Here is the position of the Latvian ministries responsible for this issue.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"At the beginning of April, the European Union adopted a complete ban on Russian and Belarusian freight carriers operating in the European Union in the fifth package of sanctions and decisions to strengthen the restrictive measures against Belarus. There is also an EU agreement to ban Russian-flagged vessels from EU ports. Exemptions apply only to critical areas such as food, medicines, etc. We are pleased with the agreement reached and maintain that such steps should be taken by all EU Member States simultaneously to achieve a greater effect. Please refer to the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Transport for details of these decisions."
Ministry of Defense
"In the view of the Ministry of Defense, it makes sense to close the entire external border of the EU with Russia and Belarus, as otherwise the objective cannot be achieved. Unilateral border closures are ineffective because other countries can be used to move people and goods (e.g., if you cannot get directly from Moscow to Riga, you can go via Berlin or another EU country)."
Ministry of the Interior
"Currently, there are increased checks of persons entering the country at the Russian-Belarusian border and border patrols at the internal borders with Lithuania and Estonia. The borders could be closed after an assessment by the State Border Guard, but at the moment the SBG does not consider it necessary. The border cannot be closed to Latvian nationals. Nor would it be appropriate to close the border to Ukrainians fleeing the war, including through the Russian border. The border could be closed to freight transport if there were agreements with the Baltic States and Poland. There is no such agreement at the moment. At the same time, there are already European sanctions against carriers."
*****
Be the first to read interesting news from Latvia and the world by joining our Telegram and Signal channels.