MINSK, 29 October (BelTA) – Lithuanian politicians are seeking to secure their share of EU budget funds by escalating tensions at the border with Belarus, spokesperson for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ruslan Varankov told journalists, BelTA has learned.
Commenting on the statement made by the European External Action Service regarding the situation on the Belarus-Lithuania border, Ruslan Varankov noted that there is a strong feeling of deja vu.
“We have already seen this. Following visits by senior EU officials to the Polish border, their loud declarations about the ‘catastrophic’ situation and Warsaw's closure of the Belarus-Poland border, Poland has been allocated over €43 billion for defense needs. Now, in the midst of hysteria about creating a ‘drone wall’ with a multibillion-euro budget, Lithuania has taken similar steps by closing its border with Belarus,” the diplomat said.
According to him, Lithuanian politicians also seem to be relying on their financial gain from the EU budget by using the same tactics of escalating tensions.
“Of course, smuggling is a common problem at most borders around the world. However, even Lithuania's prosecutor general deliberately avoids terms such as ‘organized’ or ‘hybrid attack’ precisely because there is not enough evidence to support such claims. If Lithuania and the EU are truly committed to putting an end to smuggling, then joint efforts are needed. This requires establishing normal cooperation, including on operational issues that demand proper information exchange between the relevant services,” Ruslan Varankov stressed.
He added that smugglers and their clients should first and foremost be sought on the Lithuanian side.
“Instead of taking responsibility, Lithuanian politicians have chosen to exploit the situation and shift all blame onto Belarus, covering up their own inability (or unwillingness?) to identify the organizers of smuggling within their own country. By simultaneously closing land checkpoints as a so‑called ‘countermeasure,’ they have clearly demonstrated their true attitude toward European values of freedom of movement,” the spokesperson said. “It is deeply regrettable that the European External Action Service has chosen to publicly ‘bless’ such violations by an EU member state.”
Given the scale of the planned defense funding in Eastern Europe, the Foreign Ministry does not rule out that this artificially created crisis will ultimately reveal new corruption schemes related to the use of EU funds.
Follow us on:
