UNITED NATIONS, September 27. /TASS/. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei accused the leaders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia who claimed that Belarus encourages illegal migrants to cross the border and, by doing so, is "waging a hybrid war" against the EU.
"The topic of refugees becomes ever more relevant once again, but due to the irresponsible policy of the collective West itself, and Afghanistan directly proves it," the Minister said, speaking at the UN General Assembly Monday. "And one should not shift responsibility, accusing Belarus of initiating a hybrid war against the European Union, as leaders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as some other countries, lied shamelessly from this high tribune."
According to Makei, it is clear even for a bystander that "Belarus with its 10-million population is objectively unable to wage any kind of war against the 500-million EU, even if it had Arnold Schwarzenegger’s muscle."
"We have been offering the EU to hold negotiations on illegal migration since April, but there has been no reaction. In violation of the agreements, signed previously with the EU, funding of all projects related to illegal migration was cut," the Minister noted.
He pointed out that "if a proposal of a dialogue is met with the building of a barbed wire fence, then all responsibility lays on these woebegone builders."
"Today, millions of refuges seek to get to prosperous Europe from all directions, in order to flee famine and calamities Europe itself and the West in general created in one or another country or region. But, as it turns out, nobody expects them in Europe," Makei noted.
According to the diplomat, it has come to "refuges not only being deliberately beaten in the Baltics states, but killed and then secretly dragged over the border to the Belarusian territory at night."
At the same time, Belarus seeks mutually beneficial cooperation even with those states that it has acute disagreements with.
Since the beginning of this year, over 4,000 illegal migrants have been detained at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. This is almost 50 times more than during the entire 2020. According to the Polish Border Guard, over 7,000 attempts to cross the border illegally were registered in August and September. Last year, there were only 120. Presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland accused the Belarusian leadership of encouraging illegal migration, which they called a "hybrid attack" against the EU.