MINSK, November 13. /TASS/. Not a single plane of the national Belarusian air carrier Belavia brought migrants from the Middle East to Belarus, the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with the chief editor of the Russian magazine National Defense Igor Korotchenko.
"You (Western countries - TASS) wanted to strangle us, our company at the airport, moreover, you banned Belavia's planes from flying even over European territory! All right, we are flying to Russia, we are flying to China, to the East and so on, but not a single Belavia plane brought migrants here, they fly on their own planes, on Boeings," the President said.
According to him, it was the policy of the West that led to this situation.
"Then they imposed sanctions against me, against Belarusians, went on a hybrid war against Belarus. Take the media, the economy, politics and now they are targeting the military, security - a hybrid war. And after that you, lunatics, want me to protect you, in particular from migrants?! Am I irrational? You have arranged it and now you’ll get it," Lukashenko said.
The migrant crisis on the border of Belarus with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland unraveled on November 8. Several thousand refugees approached the Polish border from the Belarusian side and are camping out at the border zone. Some tried crossing into Poland by cutting razor wire fences. The European Union is accusing Minsk of intentionally escalating the crisis and has called for more sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko blamed the situation on Western countries themselves, since it was their actions that had prompted people to flee the war in their homelands.