Anne-Marie Goussard is president of the coordination of France-Lithuania associations and president of the United Europe association. She is the author of
Des murs à abattre - Testimony of an activist committed to freedom, Moscow, Vilnius, Kaliningrad, Jamba, Kiev
(L'Harmattan, 2010) and coordinated the collective work
“Lituanien, j'écris your name ”(L'Harmattan, 2020).
Since the beginning of this year and particularly since the month of June, migrants have been used and instrumentalized by the Belarusian authorities.
This is a new form of attack against the European Union and the countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland… which welcome Belarusians threatened by the regime: politicians, students, journalists, bloggers or ordinary citizens.
On May 23, a private commercial flight between two EU capitals, Athens and Vilnius, was hijacked by Belarusian authorities to arrest journalist Roman Protassevich who was on board.
While the European Union has decided to strengthen sanctions against Minsk, Lithuania, which protects some 500 km from the external borders of the Schengen area, has seen a massive increase in illegal entries into European territory.
At the start of this year, the already large numbers of migrants and refugees mingled with Belarusians fleeing persecution by the regime. Since then, operations have taken on a whole new dimension. These movements are very organized. Thus, specifically concerning Iraqi migrants, it has been established that Belarusian travel agencies went to seek their “clients” in Baghdad, welcomed them for a few days in Minsk before pushing them “
manu militari
»Towards the EU border.
There are thus many videos showing Belarusian soldiers accompanying them to the border under the pressure of arms.
In reality, these migrants do not come of their own accord.
In close consultation with the Lithuanian authorities, for a few days Iraq has stopped flights to Minsk except empty to repatriate those who want it.
But other refugees and migrants are taking over.
Currently, Lithuania has to face an aggression which is an aggression against the external borders of Europe.
Anne-Marie Goussard
Lithuania is particularly targeted for its commitment to democracy and its support for the Belarusian people with in particular the reception of Svetlana Tsikhanovskaja, and many opponents whether they are journalists, intellectuals or ordinary citizens but also students for almost 15 years. years with the opening of the Free University of Vilnius…
Currently, Lithuania has to face an aggression which is an aggression against the external borders of Europe.
It defends the borders of the European Union.
Lithuania is a host country.
Several Iraqis have settled there, learned Lithuanian and work there.
The Lithuanians are defending the rights of these Iraqis who have been fetched from their homes and who are forcibly sent to Lithuania.
What is happening today therefore does not only concern Lithuania. This is a European question. It is the border of the European Union that is under attack and she has understood this well. She reaffirms that "
the instrumentalization of migrants and refugees is absolutely unacceptable. The use of human beings in need for the promotion of political objectives violates fundamental European values and principles. This is why the EU and its Member States condemn the instrumentalization of migrants and refugees by the Belarusian regime. (…) The European Union and its Member States, in a spirit of solidarity, have already increased their support, in particular through the deployment of Frontex's rapid border intervention and additional technical assistance, and are ready to do so. strengthen even more. Member States will quickly provide the support necessary to ensure the immediate deployment of the teams and response resources concerned.
"
Russian power continues to stir up nationalism by all means to isolate European countries from one another.
Anne-Marie Goussard
While a physical barbed wire barrier has just been erected on the Lithuanian border to limit the flow, the Belarusian army is now escorting migrants to the Latvian and Polish borders.
She lines up to keep them from going back.
This war against the European Union, supported by Russian power, takes on different aspects: influence, disinformation, infiltration ... It also uses cyber, the media, energy weapons ... Its objective is clearly to destabilize western society and divide the European Union.
Disinformation is aimed as much at public opinion, their relays as at the policies of particularly European Western countries. It's about creating confusion more than convincing, relying on freedom of expression and informing to misinform, blame, divide, discredit, use post-truth to impose "
a new world order." post-Western
”(Sergey Lavrov, Munich, February 18, 2017). Thus, the Russian power continues to stir up nationalism by all means to isolate European countries from each other. He prefers them separated from each other rather than united.
Through the media which it controls directly and / or indirectly, Moscow seeks to extend its influence and its vision of the world. The information war's main objective is to legitimize its expansionism and its strategy of fait accompli: annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008 and the Georgian borders which continue to retreat a few meters every day, annexation of Crimea in 2014, destabilization of Donetsk and Lugansk (in Ukraine) and a war which has already left more than 14,000 dead, direct and indirect military actions in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh and the Caucasus, in Transnistria ... Moscow aims to break its international isolation linked to sanctions and avoid any form of "
color revolution
", even if it means rewriting history.
Moscow is developing a rhetoric of peace ("
we must not be afraid of Russia
") while it positions conventional forces at the borders, multiplies threatening exercises, violates international treaties such as the Budapest memorandum in Ukraine ... The Kremlin also constantly uses reference to orthodoxy and Christian values but supports Chechen President Kadyrov and the anti-Charlie protests, and abandons the Armenians in their conflict with Azerbaijan.
Hybrid war goes beyond disinformation and relies on all the tools of influence: political, military, social, diplomatic, economic, energy, etc.
Anne-Marie Goussard
But Hybrid War goes beyond disinformation. It relies on all the tools of influence: political, military, social, diplomatic, economic, energy… Many strategic bodies are concerned: media, administrations, large industrial groups, strategic companies…
Soft power
is manifested in the media ,
think-tanks
, academia, partnerships with NGOs, cultural associations ... The Kremlin takes advantage of a form of weakness in certain circles, a lack of understanding of the real nature of the Russian regime, not to mention the
kompromats
(Editor's note: compromising documents, authentic or fabricated, used to harm a public figure).
At the same time, the violent anti-ax movements that took place in Vilnius on August 10 are completely unprecedented. They do not correspond to the Lithuanian culture which even at the height of its struggle for independence in the early 1990s has never strayed from the path of pacifism, democracy and… humor. Last week in Vilnius, nothing to see. The spontaneous demonstrations were too well organized with too much means. Same narratives, same symbols, same speeches, same techniques as in Paris. As in Paris, the proven presence of actors not hiding their proximity to the Kremlin. The speech equating the health pass to a Nazi act and the wearing of the yellow star has been strongly denounced by the Lithuanian Jewish community.
What we are currently seeing in the Baltic countries is therefore a continuation of a hybrid war led by Moscow and its associates which is intensifying. Whether she likes it or not, the European Union is under attack. She must defend herself.
