VILNIUS, Lithuania: Lithuania began Friday to erect a fence along its border with Belarus to deter third country migrants from entering, a week after Vilnius declared a state of emergency to address a sharp rise in migratory flows — which it says Belarusian authorities are encouraging.
Relations between the two neighbors are tense following the August 2020 elections in Belarus, which were won by long-time President Alexander Lukashenko but have been widely condemned by the West as rigged. The vote results triggered months of protests and a harsh crackdown on the opposition by Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime.
Lithuania, which has backed and granted refuge to Belarus opposition figures, accuses its neighbor of organizing the border crossings by people mainly from Iraq, the Middle East and Africa.
The double, barbed wire fence will run for 550 kilometers (342 miles), covering most of the nearly 680-kilometer (423-mile) frontier. It will cost 41 million euros ($48 million), according to Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite.
In the past two months, more than 1,500 people have crossed into Lithuania — 20 times more than in the whole of 2020.
This week, Lukashenko said his country wouldn’t close its borders “and become a camp for people fleeing Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Tunisia.”
“We won’t hold anyone, they are coming not to us but to the enlightened, warm and cozy Europe,” he added mockingly.
The European Union, of which Lithuania is a member, has said it will help the Baltic country of 2.8 million people that has already set up tent camps to accommodate the growing number of migrants.
Tensions between the EU and Belarus have escalated further after Belarus diverted a passenger jet on May 23 to arrest an opposition journalist.
Lukashenko has said his country will halt cooperation with the 27-nation bloc on stemming migration, in retaliation for bruising economic sanctions the EU slapped on Belarus over the passenger jet diversion.
Lithuania builds border fence to stem migration from Belarus
https://arab.news/23jdb
Lithuania builds border fence to stem migration from Belarus
- Lithuania, which has backed and granted refuge to Belarus opposition figures, accuses its neighbor of organizing the border crossings
- Tensions between the EU and Belarus escalated further after Belarus diverted a passenger jet on May 23 to arrest an opposition journalist
Maritime security under threat from ‘emerging dangers,’ UN chief warns
- Houthi Red Sea campaign ‘increased tensions in an already volatile region’
- Antonio Guterres calls for three-point plan to address challenges
NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of rising threats to global maritime transport at a high-level Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
It follows almost two years of turmoil in the Red Sea, a vital shipping lane connecting global trade via the Suez Canal.
Yemen’s Houthi militia launched a campaign in late 2023 to prevent Israel-linked shipping from transiting the Red Sea, claiming to act in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The US responded with Operation Prosperity Guardian, a military campaign to target Houthi launch sites and infrastructure.
The EU contributed with EUNAVFOR Aspides, while Israel later responded to Houthi attacks with extensive strikes on Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, and the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah.
Tuesday’s Security Council meeting was chaired by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister.
Guterres told the meeting: “Without maritime security, there can be no global security.
“From time immemorial, maritime routes have bound the world together. They have long been the primary means for the trade and transport of not only people, goods and commodities, but also cultures and ideas.”
However, maritime spaces are “increasingly under strain” from traditional threats and “emerging dangers,” Guterres added.
He highlighted contested boundaries, the depletion of natural resources, conflict and crime as key issues affecting maritime security.
The first quarter of 2025 saw a “sharp upward reversal” in reported piracy and armed robbery at sea, Guterres said.
He highlighted the Houthi Red Sea campaign, warning it had “disrupted global trade and increased tensions in an already volatile region.”
Earlier this month, the US reached a ceasefire deal with the Houthis following mediation by Oman.
However, the militia and Israel continue to trade strikes.
Guterres called for three measures to improve global maritime security: Respect for international law; efforts to address the root causes of maritime insecurity; and partnerships involving “everyone with a stake in maritime spaces.”
The international legal framework for maritime security “is only as strong as states’ commitment” to its implementation, he said.
Globally, more must be done “to reduce the likelihood that desperate people will turn to crime and other activities that threaten maritime security,” he added.
Guterres said: “We must involve everyone with a stake in maritime spaces. From coastal communities to governments and regional groups. To shipping companies, flag registries, the fishing and extraction industries, insurers and port operators.
“Let’s take action to support and secure maritime spaces, and the communities and people counting on them.”
Indonesian gig drivers protest demanding lower app fees
- Motorbike and scooter drivers who form the backbone of Indonesia’s sprawling gig economy earn up to 150,000 rupiah ($10) a day
JAKARTA: Thousands of drivers from ride-hailing and food delivery apps protested in Indonesia on Tuesday, demanding a 10-percent cap on commission fees.
Hundreds of drivers gathered in the streets of the capital Jakarta, driving their motorbikes and waving flags.
Thousands more in Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya drove to the offices of ride-hailing apps GoJek and Grab, before rallying in front of the governor’s office, an AFP journalist saw.
“Many of our friends got into accidents on the road, died on the road because they have to chase their income,” Raden Igun Wicaksono, chairman of the driver’s union Garda Indonesia, told AFP.
“It’s about lives, not about business calculation.”
Drivers are also demanding the end of discounted fare programs and calling on lawmakers to meet with the drivers’ association and app companies.
Motorbike and scooter drivers who form the backbone of Indonesia’s sprawling gig economy earn up to 150,000 rupiah ($10) a day, but costs including app commissions and fuel eat into their income.
Gojek — which alongside Singapore’s Grab is among Asia’s most valuable startups — said it was committed to “supporting the long-term welfare of our driver partners.”
But lowering its 20-percent commission fee, which complied with regulations, was “not a viable solution,” according to Ade Mulya, head of public policy for Gojek’s parent company GoTo.
Pentagon chief orders review of US withdrawal from Afghanistan
- A special review panel will “thoroughly examine previous investigations,” Hegseth said in a memo
- “This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people”
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered a Pentagon review of the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has long been a target of Republican criticism.
“I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people,” Hegseth wrote in a memo.
A special review panel will “thoroughly examine previous investigations, to include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyze the decision making that led to one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments,” the memo said.
“This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation,” it added.
The US withdrawal saw Taliban fighters sweep aside Afghan forces, forcing the last American troops to mount an evacuation from Kabul’s airport that got more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.
On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber targeted crowds of people on the perimeter of Kabul airport who were desperate to get on a flight out of the country, killing more than 170 people, among them 13 American troops.
Joe Biden, who was US president during the withdrawal, defended the decision to leave Afghanistan, which critics have said helped cause the catastrophic collapse of Afghan forces.
That paved the way for the Taliban to return to power two decades after their first government was toppled by American forces in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Muslim Brotherhood ‘threat to national cohesion’: French report
- The report pointed to the spread of Islamism “from the bottom up” and at the municipal level
- It highlighted the “subversive nature of the project,” saying it aims “to gradually bring about changes to local or national rules“
PARIS: The Muslim Brotherhood movement is a “threat to national cohesion” in France and action must be taken to stop the spread of “political Islamism,” according to a report to be presented to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.
“The reality of this threat, even if it is long-term and does not involve violent action, poses a risk of damage to the fabric of society and republican institutions... and, more broadly, to national cohesion,” said the report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
The report, prepared by two senior civil servants, is to be examined by the Defense Council on Wednesday.
France and Germany have the biggest Muslim populations among European Union countries.
The report pointed to the spread of Islamism “from the bottom up” and at the municipal level, adding the phenomenon constituted “a threat in the short to medium term.”
In France, the movement is “based on a solid structure, but political Islamism is spreading primarily at the local level,” the authors stressed.
“Resolute and long-term action on the ground seems necessary to stem the rise of political Islamism,” they said.
The report highlighted the “subversive nature of the project,” saying it aims “to gradually bring about changes to local or national rules,” particularly those concerning secularism and gender equality.
Such “municipal Islamism” risks affecting the public sphere and local politics, the report said, pointing to “the creation of increasingly numerous Islamist ecosystems.”
France’s tough-talking Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed concern on Tuesday about “a low-level Islamism” whose “ultimate goal is to turn the entire French society to Sharia law.”
But the report authors said that “no recent document demonstrates the desire of Muslims in France to establish an Islamic state in France or to enforce Sharia law there.”
Muslims in France (Musulmans de France), formerly the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, is identified as “the national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France.”
“We are not dealing with aggressive separatism” but a “subtle (...) yet no less subversive aim for the institutions,” the authors said.
The report estimates that there are 139 places of worship affiliated with Muslims of France, with an additional 68 considered close to the federation.
This represents seven percent of the 2,800 Muslim places of worship listed in France, the report said.
The Islamist movement is losing its influence in the Arab world and “focusing its efforts on Europe,” it added.
A public awareness campaign must be combined with renewed efforts to promote a “secular discourse” as well as “strong and positive signals to the Muslim community” including the teaching of Arabic, the report said.
Ukraine launches probe into French-trained brigade
- The 155th Mechanized Brigade was supposed to be a flagship fighting force for Ukraine’s army
- A spokesperson for Ukraine’s land forces confirmed that a fresh investigation had been launched
KYIV: Ukraine’s military has launched another investigation into the scandal-hit “Anne of Kyiv” brigade, trained in France, after a media report alleged financial misconduct among commanders, a military spokesperson said Tuesday.
The 155th Mechanized Brigade was supposed to be a flagship fighting force for Ukraine’s army, announced by French President Emmanuel Macron as a symbol of cooperation between Kyiv and Paris.
But it has been plagued by scandals, including reports of equipment shortages, low morale and soldiers abandoning the unit while undergoing training in France.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s land forces confirmed that a fresh investigation had been launched but declined to elaborate.
The Ukrainska Pravda media outlet recently alleged that brigade commander Col. Taras Maksimov had been possibly involved “in fictitious combat payments and extortion.”
It also said the brigade had seen over 1,200 cases of soldiers going absent without leave.
“After the publication of the article in the media, where new details and circumstances were revealed, an additional check was ordered to clarify all the facts set out in the article,” land forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty told AFP in a written statement.
He said a law enforcement investigation had started and that the land forces were taking “all necessary measures to facilitate the investigation and establish the truth.”
Macron announced the creation of the Anne of Kyiv brigade — named after a Medieval Kyiv princess who married into the French royal family — in June last year.
Paris hailed it as a “unique” initiative and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to form a dozen other NATO-trained and equipped units.
Ukraine’s military has been beset with corruption scandals — ranging from weapons procurement to the falsification of draft exemption certificates — since Russia invaded in February 2022.
