At a government meeting in the capital Minsk yesterday, he threatened that he could let refugees from countries like Iraq or Afghanistan through to Europe en masse.
The people were traveling from war zones to “warm and comfortable Europe”, and workers were needed in Germany, said the 66-year-old.
At the same time, Lukashenko announced that he would no longer allow goods to pass through Belarus to Russia and China. “Do you remember Skoda and Nivea and so on? We said to them: people, thank you and goodbye!” Said Lukashenko in front of ministers.
In a first step, the Belarusian market was closed. In a second step, the movement of goods through the country will now be banned. “You have to deal with the Germans in exactly the same way. Let them deliver their goods to Russia and China via Finland. Or via the Ukraine – there are good ways there.”
Billions in debt
The EU has imposed numerous sanctions for the suppression of dissenters in Belarus and in response to the presidential election in 2020, which was considered to be falsified. The punitive measures of the EU and the USA put the former Soviet republic under massive pressure. The Russian head of state Vladimir Putin had repeatedly assured Lukashenko of support. Belarus has been economically dependent on Russia for a long time and is in billions in debt.
14 years imprisonment for members of the opposition
Meanwhile, the opposition activist Viktor Babariko was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. Supporters of the 57-year-old announced yesterday that he had to serve his sentence in a high-security prison camp.
Viktor Babariko ran for the presidential election in Belarus last summer and was considered the main challenger to the autocratic long-term ruler Alexander Lukashenko. However, a few weeks before the vote, Babariko was arrested.
