Lukashenko: Poland, Lithuania are behind border migrant crisis

Speaking about the situation with migrants, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the situation is further aggravated by the actions of border guards in neighboring states. “The leaders of these states directly accuse our country of the migration crisis. Moreover, by voicing these accusations at high-level rostrums they decided to mislead the entire world community about this matter. Their speeches at the UN General Assembly are a case in point,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed to the pressure from Poland: “It is clear what role Poland plays in the EU. It is under the umbrella of Americans. They cause as many problems to the European Union as the Polish authorities do to us. And they put pressure on the European Union saying that we are up to some kind of hybrid attack against the European Union.” 

Aleksandr Lukashenko once again denied such accusations calling them nonsense. He emphasized that Western countries themselves are to blame for the migration crisis. “You invited them. You ruined their home countries. You are the primary reason why people are fleeing the war. And I have repeatedly said that migrants are taken there by an international gang and that Belarus is not the only migration pathway. More people are trying to get to the EU through the Mediterranean. They are coming in hordes. And it is all arranged by certain people.”

Speaking about the transit of migrants through Belarus, the head of state explained how this is done: “They pick up these people there, give them some money. They fly in here taking advantage of our visa waiver. They are met here by certain people and taken to the border and then across the borderline. And there - in Poland, Lithuania and other countries - the top gangsters pick them up in Poland, for example, and send them further to Germany. Poland is not the final destination for migrants. They are headed for Germany, France, and partly Great Britain. There are no boundaries for them.”

“I have already said it straight: you [the collective West and the European Union in particular] have launched a hybrid war against us, you are waging a war of sanctions against us, and you want us to protect you here? It is not going to happen. Let them fight against those who are not welcome in Poland or Lithuania,” the president emphasized.

Aleksandr Lukashenko focused on how the neighboring countries treat these poor migrants who want to get asylum in the EU countries: “People in military uniform (it is clear who they are, we can see it) - both the police and the border troops, the army has already been involved - they drive migrants, like cattle, to our border. They dump beaten, frozen, mutilated, sometimes dead migrants on our side of the border. What is left for us to do? You cannot leave a person at the border.”