MOSCOW, November 23. / TASS /. Amid the ongoing situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, Europe should be taking action, rather than giving advice, in particular, it needs to halt the migrant smuggling business, to tackle the problem at its roots, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
The security chief commented on the West's recommendations to cancel visa-free travel with certain countries.
"Belarus is a sovereign state that decides for itself with whom and for how long it should introduce visa-free travel. Minsk has its own priorities in foreign and domestic policy. Europe needs to act, not give recommendations," Patrushev insisted.
"First of all, it is necessary to stop the business of smuggling migrants. This should be done both at the level of the EU and through some certain countries and their national special services and law enforcement agencies. It is crucial to nip the problem in the bud in order to permanently stop the uncontrolled migration flow," the Russian security chief noted.
Patrushev said that the uncontrolled flows of migrants were triggered by Western policy decisions. In his opinion, "the West needs to abandon its policy of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and imposing their beliefs by military force," the security chief said.
"For example, people are fleeing to Europe through Belarus from Iraq, where the situation has aggravated after the military invasion and execution of President Saddam Hussein. They are fleeing from Libya, where the West liquidated head of state Muammar Gaddafi and brought the country to collapse. In Afghanistan, an order alien to this state has been imposed for 20 years, and, as a result, the pro-Western regime collapsed in a few weeks. In Syria, [the EU] also wanted to restore the so-called order, trying to physically eliminate [President] Bashar al-Assad, and almost spawned a global terrorist caliphate," the Russian security council’s head stated.