Opinions & Interviews

The head of state said he was confident that despite the problems arising from the mass inflow of migrants from Middle East countries to the European Union, the stream will not turn towards Belarus. “We are not the European Union or America. We didn’t fight over there. It was they that destroyed those countries,” stressed the Belarusian leader. He reminded about the murders of Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, who were not ardent adherents of the democratic kind of rule, but still managed to keep the situation in their countries under control, thus contributing to the regional security on the whole. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the West fully destabilized the Arab East, producing the current problems. “It is their problem. They should be the ones to deal with it. Belarus will not have an inflow of migrants,” said the head of state.

“We have enough migrants from the brotherly country of Ukraine as it is. We are already busy accommodating about 150,000 migrants from Ukraine,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The President noted that the demographic situation is a major problem in Belarus. As a matter of principle, the country is interested in increasing the population, including via migrants. However, the head of state continued, a massive one-time migration of a large number of people cannot but create certain problems, including the rising crime rate and the displeasure of the native citizens. “I can see it. Ensuring the country’s security is one of the key aspects of the president’s work. We have no problems with it for now and we will not have any. I can guarantee it. We are not going to play democracy here.”

Yet the head of state underlined that Belarusian borders are still open to people in distress.