GRODNO, 25 November (BelTA) - Belarus did not have any hand in organizing the migrant crisis, Anatoly Glaz, Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Office, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters, BelTA reports.
The media, politicians, he noted, often manipulate news or present them without facts. "There is a wide-ranging migrant crisis in the world. This is a fact. The refugees, who got trapped on the border, are not fleeing the good life. They are fleeing the countries which the West had destabilized, with its experiments, color revolutions, leaving many of them in chaos,” Anatoly Glaz said.
"Belarus did not take any part in these ‘adventures'. We are a transit country, a country that incurs costs because of this," the spokesman said. He cited the example of France. About 1,000 refugees crossed the English Channel into the UK every day last week. “No one declared France a hybrid aggressor. No one deployed tanks on the border. Yet, the European Union with the total population of 500 million has made such accusations against Belarus with a population under 10 million,” said Anatoly Glaz.
“Since April we have repeatedly invited the European Commission to discuss the situation on the border, but have received no response,” he said. At the same time, the EU has suspended all technical assistance programs of border cooperation. Among them was, in particular, a program to build a refugee center. Despite the statements made in the EU, no assistance has been provided to Belarus.
He also raised the topic of cancelled flights from Iraq. According to Anatoly Glaz, there are no obstacles for refugees wishing to go home. On the contrary, Belarus is providing necessary assistance, including with the paperwork. However, few refugees changed their mind, Anatoly Glaz said. They do not want to go home. They all intend to go to the West.
