MOSCOW, 21 October (BelTA) - Moscow and Minsk do not hold the key to the migration problem. The crisis was initiated by the West, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said at a briefing for the press in Moscow on 21 October, BelTA has learned.
Maria Zakharova dismissed the recent statements of Germany Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer that the final "key to the problem likely lies in Moscow" as completely absurd. "Calls on Minsk and Moscow to stop the migration flow are simply baseless," Maria Zakharova stressed.
"The entire world has witnessed the development of the events, the crisis on the border of several European countries. Everything seems obvious," the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “The crisis has some historical background. We will talk about this in more detail. But the combination of these two factors - ongoing developments on the border and the historical roots of the current situation - should, in principle, strike out any accusations to other countries, that were not involved in that story.”
"Such accusations are absurd. Let's talk where the keys, whether one or many, lie. They definitely do not lie in Moscow and Minsk. They lie in the capitals of our Western partners, primarily in Washington and Brussels. Because the migration crisis was created by the collective West under the leadership of the United States and the leading NATO countries as they carried out their military interventions into Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan," Maria Zakharova said.
She advised the German official to attend a conference on Mediterranean issues which is regularly held in Rome and to listen to Germany's partners in the European Union and NATO and their vision of the current situation,” Maria Zakharova noted. "The Western states will continue to experience these ramifications from the interventions and illegal military campaigns, including in the form of waves of illegal migration, a surge in terrorism, organized crime, interethnic and interreligious problems."
“The calls on Minsk and Moscow to stop the exodus of refugees raise eyebrows given the actions of the Western coalition in the Middle East, West Africa and Afghanistan. What does Minsk and Moscow have to do with it? How did they, in the West, manage to bridge these themes? All this looks at least odd: they are passing the buck and talking about some hybrid attacks. We saw how the evacuation was carried out in Afghanistan, when tens of thousands of locals were left in dire straits. They are now trying to leave their country using all kinds of ways and channels,” Maria Zakharova said.
She went on saying that the collective West is using the migration crisis to rock the boat in Belarus. “Secondly. In this situation, one cannot fail to see the obvious: Western countries are deliberately trying to exacerbate political tensions in Belarus. Amidst mounting external pressure and a sharp increase in security threats inside the country, Belarusian law enforcement agencies have to use their border resources to ensure internal stability. Is it so hard to understand? It is absolutely obvious,” she said.
The spokeswoman recalled that Belarus repeatedly invited the EU to embark on a dialogue on the migration problem. “Instead of subversive activities, the EU should rather focus on combating illegal migration in collaboration with the Belarusian authorities that have repeatedly declared their readiness for cooperation. What do you think the EU says? The European Union rejects it,” Maria Zakharova said.
