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West’s handling of refugee crisis threatens CSTO — top Belarusian lawmaker

Belarus opposes the escalation of the conflict, fulfilling its international obligations responsibly, Vladimir Andreichenko stressed

MINSK, November 29. /TASS/. Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko on Monday said the West, by its handling of the refugee crisis at the Belarusian border, is threatening the region of the Collective Security Treaty.

"Such aggressive actions not only destabilize the situation in the center of Europe, but also pose a direct threat to the entire CSTO region," the chairman said, speaking at a joint meeting of the chambers of parliament on Monday.

The next plenary session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly will take place today and will consider the issues of countering new threats and challenges to collective security, he said. In addition, he said that the Belarusian parliamentarians will discuss the refugee situation with their Union State counterparts - in Russia - since "this provocation is equally directed against the Russian Federation." Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin is scheduled to visit Belarus on December 2.

"Belarus opposes the escalation of the conflict, fulfilling its international obligations responsibly," Andreichenko said. "We provide the refugees with shelter, food and medical assistance, and help those who want to return home - and for doing all that we are handed down another package of sanctions by the West."

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Belarus CSTO Migration

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