The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced this Friday that he ordered the government to resume contacts with Poland, amid border tensions between Moscow’s ally and the neighboring NATO member.
“We have to talk to the Poles. I have ordered the prime minister to contact them,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the state news agency Belta.
Currently, tensions between Minsk and Warsaw are high, in a context of division over the war in Ukraine, with Poland helping Kiev economically and militarily, while Belarus is an ally of Moscow.
Poland announced this Thursday that it will reinforce security on the border with Belarus with up to 10,000 soldiers as a way of deterring provocations by mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group sent to the neighboring country.
Warsaw also alleged an increase in the number of illegal entry attempts of immigrants across the border with Belarus, in what it considered a hybrid war orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow to destabilize the region.
Lukashenko attributed the Warsaw accusations to the fact that legislative elections in Poland were scheduled for October 15.
According to Lukashenko, the Polish government seeks “an escalation, to worsen the situation, in order to show that it has properly armed and rearmed the country,” on the eve of the elections.
“Before October 15, it is unlikely that they will make significant changes that are beneficial to them and to us,” he said.
“They demand a lot from us (…), but we cannot accept that, because it would go against our interests,” he also said, quoted by the French agency AFP.
Lukashenko accused the United States of pushing Poland towards an attempt to worsen the situation in the region.
“The Americans are betting on Poland. But the Poles are not stupid. They are our people, the Slavs. They understand everything perfectly. We will be patient and see. We are open to cooperation,” he said, according to Belta.
In a meeting with workers’ organizations during a visit to the Minsk airport, Lukashenko defended that Belarus should not lose relations with its neighbors in the European Union (EU).
“Currently, we live mainly at the expense of the East, we cooperate with Russia and China. But we can’t forget about the high-tech West,” she said.
The Belarusian leader admitted that the improvement of relations with the EU countries will not be immediate due to the war in Ukraine, but could take place in 2024-2025.
At that time, “I’m sure there will be serious changes in the world, even,” he added, without specifying.
Source: TSF
