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What Belarus's border closure meant for Kyiv
Summary
A look back at the Belarus–Ukraine border dispute and the Lithuanian emergency declared in the days before 5 July 2021.
What was Minsk signalling to its neighbours in the days before 5 July 2021? Two reports from 2 July pointed to growing friction on Belarus's western and southern frontiers.
On 2 July, Belarus closed its border with Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that arms were being smuggled into the country in an attempt by "outside powers" to overthrow his regime. He said they had crossed the line and could not be forgiven. Ukraine denied the claims and said that closing the border would make its people suffer.
The same day, Lithuania declared a state of emergency amid an increase in undocumented migrants crossing from Belarus. The Lithuanian government accused Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilise the country by encouraging and allowing migrants, mostly Syrians, to cross the border.
Two neighbours, two accusations
The two disputes were different in kind. In one, Minsk accused a neighbour of aiding a plot; in the other, a neighbour accused Minsk of acting against it. In both cases, the reported outcome was strain between Belarus and a bordering state, and a Ukrainian denial that put the cost of the closure on ordinary people.
