Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko called Ukraine a new, “additional threat” to Belarus during a meeting with top law enforcement officials on Aug. 5.
Lukashenko said that the leadership of Ukraine chose to confront Belarus.
The statement comes just a day after Belarusian activist Vitaliy Shyshov was found hanged in a park in Kyiv, where he stayed since fleeing Belarus in 2020 after participating in nationwide protests against Lukashenko. After the incident, President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered that the law enforcers provide protection to all Belarusians who arrived in Ukraine during the last year and who may be under threat for their activism.
Lukashenko also ordered to close Belarus’ borders with all neighboring countries except for Russia.
“From today, no one from the west or south should set foot in Belarus,” Lukashenko said. “Close every meter of the border.”
This isn’t the first time Lukashenko threatens to shut down Belarus.
On July 2, Lukashenko ordered to close the borders with Ukraine due to an alleged “huge inflow of weapons.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry denied all accusations. Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service later reported that Belarus didn’t close its border.
Now, Lukashenko ordered border closure citing his concerns about the recent influx of Belarusian migrants attempting to cross into Lithuania.
However, the Lithuanian authorities state that the migrant wave has been artificially created, and Lukashenko himself is in charge of it.
As of Aug. 1, over 2,500 migrants have illegally crossed the Belarus-Lithuania border. In 2020, Lithuania accepted 79 migrants.
The Lithuanian authorities have accused Lukashenko of using the migrant crisis as a “hybrid weapon,” first bringing migrants from Iraq and Syria to Belarus and then sending them to Lithuania.
The Minsk International Airport has recently seen a rise in flights to and from Iraq and Syria.
According to Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas, Belarus officials take away migrants’ passports, delete information from their mobile phones and lead them to the place where they can cross the 680-kilometer border with Lithuania.
In response to the crisis, Lithuania passed a law fast-tracking asylum claims and legalizing detention of migrants for up to six months without a court order.
The new round of confrontation between Belarus and other European countries began in late May when Belarus authorities grounded a Ryanair passenger plane passing over Belarus en route from Athens to Vilnius with Lukashenko’s critic, journalist Roman Protasevich onboard.
The Belarus authorities falsely claimed that the passenger plane had a bomb on it. The plane was forced to turn around and land in Minsk.
The Belarus KGB agents raided the plane and arrested Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, a Russian national.
In response, Ukraine and the European Union countries imposed a new round of sanctions on Belarus cutting off air travel to the rogue state.
