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Belarus border closure and Lithuania's emergency declaration
Summary
A look back at 2 July 2021, when Minsk shut its frontier with Ukraine and Vilnius declared a state of emergency over migrant arrivals.
What did Alexander Lukashenko's confrontation with his neighbours look like on 2 July 2021? Two reports from that day, one involving Ukraine and one involving Lithuania, point to a hardening of positions along Belarus's borders.
According to the reports, Belarus closed its border with Ukraine after Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, claimed that arms were being smuggled into the country. He described this as an attempt by "outside powers" to overthrow his regime, and said they had crossed a line and could not be forgiven.
Ukraine denied the claims. It said that closing the border would make its people suffer.
Lithuania's emergency
On the same day, Lithuania declared a state of emergency amid a rise in the number of undocumented migrants crossing from Belarus. The Lithuanian government accused Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilise the country by encouraging and allowing people, mostly Syrians, to cross the border.
A wider picture
The two episodes were separate in detail. In one, Minsk alleged hostile outside interference. In the other, a neighbour accused Minsk of deliberate destabilisation. Both involved Lukashenko, and both were reported on 2 July 2021.
Elsewhere in the region, the last Polish troops had left Afghanistan on 30 June 2021, ending Poland's involvement in the war. About 33,000 Polish troops served there, and 44 were killed in action.
