Trucks, trafficking slow down the East

Although the Baltic states have increased their border security, they still face big challenges. Gary Peach reports.

In the weeks leading up to the Baltic states’ accession to the European Union in 2004, there were several myths that nurtured Euroscepticism and sowed fear among uninformed citizens.

According to one, the EU had a supposed ban on the sale of large-grain salt, a staple among Baltic consumers who like to pickle their garden vegetables. Despite assurances to the contrary, panic-buying ensued in Estonia and Latvia, and soon the salt vanished from store shelves.

Another myth held that, after 1 May 2004, the Baltic states would be inundated with illegal immigrants. This rumour was particularly vibrant in Latvia’s Russian-language media, which reported that the country’s population of 2.3 million could almost double in several years thanks to waves of refugees from places such as Somalia. Nothing of the sort occurred, of course, and last year fewer than 60 illegal immigrants were detained in Latvia - a drop in the bucket compared with the numbers entering Spain or Italy.

Yet after 21 December, the situation has changed. The Baltics have suddenly become an enticing back-door entrance for desperate Africans and Central Asians determined to make their way to urban centres such as Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. Konstantins Sarigins, deputy chief of Latvia’s border guard, says that it is inevitable that they will try to breach the barrier. "Trafficking of illegal immigrants is a big business," he says, estimating that a person might pay some €2,000 to penetrate the EU’s eastern border.

Latvia’s border guard has beefed up its immigration department from 180 to 500 workers by transferring guards no longer needed on the borders with Lithuania and Estonia. Along the country’s long border with Russia and Belarus there are cameras and sensors and a full kennel of 190 dogs to sniff out trespassers. "We are prepared to stop them," Sarigins says. His Russian and Belarusian colleagues, he says, are co-operative and have improved the quality of their border guard over recent years. But what is crucial, he stresses, is that the two countries phase out the military border guard (employing teenage conscripts) and use more trained professionals.

In Lithuania, the primary challenge involves smuggling of goods. Contraband cigarettes and vodka from the Kaliningrad enclave continue to make their way to Poland and Germany, where they are sold for a premium. In 2007 border guards seized 3 million packs of cigarettes, an estimated 10% of what gets through. Every technological advance made by the border guards provokes a response from the smugglers. The latest: using minors to do the actual smuggling since they cannot be prosecuted.

Another headache that will not go away ‘post-Schengen’ is the phenomenally long truck lines on the Latvia-Russia border. On 17 December the line at the Terehova checkpoint reached a staggering 1,500 trucks (which amounts to a four-day wait), while 650 more stretched out waiting to cross the border at Grebneva (with both lines waiting to enter Russia).

The European Commission has expressed a willingness to help finance a third crossing point, but Russia has been dragging its feet. While in Riga to sign a border agreement on 18 December, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov admitted that Russia was keener to redirect these trade flows to its ports rather than to help a neighbour develop its transit business.

Nevertheless, 21 December was a euphoric day in the Baltics. For many Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, the date held more importance than 1 May 2004, which signified a few seats in the European Parliament and access to structural funds - something most Balts will never have the pleasure of using. Residents of Estonia’s Valga and Latvia’s Valka - once a single town that was bifurcated after the First World War - can now cross town to do shopping and meet friends without the hassle of showing their passports. Lithuanians can drive all the way to Lapland and not have to bother with border checks.

For ethnic Russians living in the Baltics - about 1.5 million people - many of whom regularly travel eastward to visit relatives, the Schengen zone is a non-event. Their biggest concern is the ease with which, and at what cost, the Russian consulates will issue visas.

Meanwhile, all Balts are waiting patiently for older EU members to remove bans on migrant workers. Most member states still have barriers in place, though a few - the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Finland - have welcomed east European labourers. This is crucial since for most Balts the EU means the freedom to travel and work wherever they please. The other dream - switching to the euro - has been put on hold indefinitely. Inflation in all three countries is alarmingly high and will continue to rise - as high as 16-17% in Latvia - over the next few months.

• Gary Peach is a freelance journalist living in Riga.

Although the Baltic states have increased their border security, they still face big challenges. Gary Peach reports.