Lukashenko threatens the West with nuclear war
If a conflict is unleashed on the territory of Belarus, NATO and Russia will be drawn into it, said self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in an interview with the BBC, part of which was published by Belarusian state agency BelTA .
According to Lukashenko, the West has not yet paid the Belarusian people for the losses that they suffered in the Second World War but it is already trying to unleash a new war.
"You understand that if you unleash a war here in Belarus , NATO will be drawn in and Russia will also be drawn in. This is a nuclear war," Lukashenko said.
He also assured that Belarus has always tried to live in peace with neighboring countries. "Did I organize any fights with Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians at the border? Never. Here [in the Palace of Independence] the Normandy Four summit on Ukraine [was held], and here the war was stopped. We did everything," Lukashenko stressed.
The migrant crisis on the border of the EU countries and Belarus began after the European Union introduced sanctions against Minsk because of the forced landing of the Ryanair plane with the former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta Roman Protasevich on board. Lukashenko then said that Belarus will no longer help the EU countries control illegal migration at its borders.
The Polish authorities accused the Belarusian side of creating the migrant crisis. Poland and Lithuania have imposed a state of emergency due to the growing flow of refugees. The Lithuanian authorities decided to start building a wall on the border with Belarus. Latvia also announced the strengthening of border controls.
In October, Lukashenko, responding to a question from CNN whether he was using migrants as revenge for the EU sanctions, said that "only weak people can take revenge": "Sorry for immodesty, I do not consider myself a weakling. And I do not consider it necessary to take revenge on the European Union."
Since August, Lithuania has begun the deportation of illegal migrants.