The European Commission has held the Belarusian envoy in Brussels to account for the organized migratory flow. A spokesperson also said today that talks are being held with the Iraqi government about the matter. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis recently visited Iraq; as a result of that trip, Iraqi Airways would have flights to Minsk scaled back.
Minsk: Lithuanian border guard kills migrant
Meanwhile, Lukashenko argues that Lithuania is using illegal migration as a weapon. Since this week, the Baltic country has ordered border guards to return illegal migrants to the border, the so-called pushbacks. In response, Lukashenko has ordered border guards to “lock every meter of the border”.
According to Minsk, the migrants are severely beaten by Lithuanian border guards. As a result, a man is said to have died this week. “They throw dead and half-dead people on our territory,” Lukashenko said in a speech to security officials, in which he called the Lithuanians “Nazis”.
Vilnius denies the death of the man and speaks of disinformation. “An obvious provocation,” said Lithuanian Defense Minister Anusaukas.
Also arguing with Ukraine
Lukashenko has earlier today also pulled out to its southern neighbor Ukraine. According to the president, Ukraine is a new threat to Belarus because the government in Kiev has chosen to confront Belarus.
On Tuesday, Belarusian activist Vitali Shisjov was found hanged from a tree in a park in Kiev. His phone and other belongings were gone. The Ukrainian police are investigating the circumstances, Shisjov’s friends and colleagues assume a murder, which was supposed to look like a suicide.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said that every Belarusian exile in his country should receive “special and reliable protection”.
Lukashenko wants the border with Ukraine, just like the one with the EU, to be closed. “From today on, no one will step into Belarus from the west or south.”
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