What the US vaccine gift to Moldova and Lithuania's fence showed
A look back at two regional developments reported in the days before 12 July 2021, in Moldova and on the Lithuania–Belarus border.
What was happening on Ukraine's western and northern flanks as 12 July 2021 began? Two reports from the preceding days pointed to a region dealing with public health and border pressure.
On 10 July 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the United States had donated 500,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to Moldova. Moldovan President Maia Sandu praised the United States for the deployment of the vaccines to her country.
The day before, on 9 July 2021, Lithuania began building a fence along its border with Belarus, at a cost of $48 million. A week earlier, Lithuania had declared a state of emergency because of a rise in the number of undocumented migrants, mostly Syrians, crossing from Belarus. Lithuania accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilise the country by encouraging and allowing the illegal crossings.
Together, the two reports showed neighbouring states handling vaccine supply and migration at their borders in the days before 12 July 2021.
