Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that his country will no longer prevent migrants from traveling to the European Union, in remarks made during an interview with the Russian state TV channel Russia 24, aired on Tuesday.
“You have put a noose around my neck in the form of sanctions and demand that I protect the European Union from the influx of these migrants. It will not be like that. Let them go wherever they want. They are not staying with us. This is my policy,” Lukashenko said.
He blamed the West for the migrant crisis, citing instability in Afghanistan and the Middle East. “From Afghanistan, where they [the West] stirred things up, from the Middle East… they’ve paid Erdogan a decent amount, so you can’t get through Turkey; through the Mediterranean Sea—it’s a big risk, more people die. So migrants have already started to fly through Russia, some go on foot through Belarus, and go through Poland to Germany. Some may stay in Poland; they don’t stay with us,” he explained.
Lukashenko also linked his decision to the sanctions imposed on Belarus by Western countries. “When they [the West] started to impose sanctions against Belarus, I told them: ‘Guys, I’m not going to detain migrants here, catch them, and keep them in Belarus anymore. And Putin won’t keep them in Russia, we won’t do that.’ That’s why they [migrants] keep going [to the EU]. Go ahead, catch them over there [in the EU],” he added.
Since 2021, Poland and the European Union have accused Belarus and Russia of deliberately encouraging migrants to cross their borders as part of a “hybrid war” to destabilize the region. Both Minsk and Moscow have consistently denied these accusations.
