Events

Lukashenko: I do not want Poles to suffer, but will not protect their interests with a noose around my neck

MINSK, 8 August (BelTA) – Belarus will not protect the interests of Poland and the Baltics with a noose around its neck, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview to TIME Magazine, BelTA has learned.

The head of state rejected allegations of Belarus using illegal migration as a pressure tool against West.

“I don’t want our Poles, fellow Slavs to suffer. They are not strangers to us,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He stressed that the EU has a migration policy, which does not include the ‘kill and dump back’ article.

“They are killing people and throwing them back. We have every case documented. Barbed wire strung across the border is killing wildlife. This is the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, an animal migration route. They are killing them. Why are you staying silent? They violate all norms and rules. Even in Soviet times, when I served on that border as a guard, we never installed alarms on the routes where animals passed. Animals have always been treated with respect,” the president said.

According to the head of state, illegal migration is sponsored in Poland. Otherwise, how do migrants end up in Germany? It’s impossible for people to cross an entire country unnoticed. That’s impossible. Especially in the current situation,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We see this movement. But we are not intercepting these migrants, and I warned the Poles, Lithuanians, and Latvians about this. Why? Because you refused to cooperate with us on migration policy. These are facts. You refused and imposed sanctions against us.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that in such a situation he would not protect the interests of Poland and the Baltics with a noose around his neck.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks