Europe’s borders have for several years been subjected to attacks at the borders with Belarus. The migrants are trained to fight border guards by the regime in Minsk.
The head of Latvia’s security service, Normunds Mežviets, says that Minsk’s hybrid warfare “is becoming increasingly aggressive”.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Mežviets said that migrants were trained in combat techniques in special camps and pushed across the EU’s borders into Poland and the Baltic states.
In addition to Poland, the borders of Latvia and Lithuania have at times been under severe pressure.
Tens of thousands of migrants have been sent across these borders, in what is regarded as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare against the West.
Mežviets described how the tactics of Belarus and Russia had developed over time.
“I remember the first years, it was quite, quite calm … but over the past year it has become more aggressive.”
Due to their willingness to send soldiers to the border to use force to prevent migrants from entering the country, the inflow has been reduced. The comparison with Western Europe and the Nordic countries is striking.
Belarus employed various methods. Mežviets described one tactic as an “information operation” directed at countries such as Latvia.
Migrants were shown videos with false testimonies from people who allegedly had been subjected to “evil, violent border guards who beat them, harassed them and kicked them out”, he said.
After the security chief and his analysts studied the videos, the conclusion was clear.
“They showed their scars, and although I am not a great expert in this field, I can say that they are not real scars. It was just poor, fairly simple make-up.”
Mežviets claims that migrants were also trained in the use of violence. Without wishing to go into detail, he says that infrastructure was built at the border, including depots and hotels, and camps were established to train migrants in combat techniques before they were sent onwards to Latvia.
Document has previously written about how soldiers from Belarus attempted to force migrants into Poland. Polish soldiers responded with tear gas.
Minsk is also building underground tunnels at the EU’s eastern border to help migrants cross the border. They have made use of specialists from the Middle East with “high competence” to design the tunnels, Polish authorities have informed The Telegraph.
This has been ongoing for years.
“We have still not seen any tunnels such as our Polish friends have… but from the very beginning we have seen a massive build-up by the Belarusian authorities, as well as the Belarusian KGB and border guards openly promoting this illegal migration,” said Mežviets.
180 ulovlige migranter kom seg inn i Polen gjennom tunnel fra Hviterussland
– Kill us all
There has developed an increasingly close cooperation between the three countries, particularly with regard to the border areas.
Latvia is a small country which for many years has lived under various forms of occupation. For 700 years, ethnic Germans constituted the ruling elite. Later came the decades under brutal Soviet rule from the 1940s until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“I understand very well that if the Russians come here for the third time, it will not only be the end of our state, of Latvia as a country and of our sovereignty – it will be the end of the Latvian nation … they will kill us all,” said Mežviets.
Some Western intelligence sources believe that the Kremlin may be ready to initiate an attack against NATO within five years. It is among these “experts” that there are those who claim that an attack on Europe is also the Kremlin’s plan.
If European politicians believe this, it appears somewhat strange to break with the United States, the only ally capable of saving them if such a situation arises.
Brussels should perhaps choose its experts with care. Then perhaps they should learn something from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
For in Western Europe the situation is rather clear:
The enemy is inside the gate.