MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) – The demonization of Belarus by the West is to blame for several years of missed opportunities for dialogue, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov said at the international conference in Minsk to discuss regional cooperation in combating illegal migration, BelTA has learned.
“In my opinion, it is difficult for them today to re-engage with Belarus after our country has been demonized by all media in the West for three years. Belarus was accused of all sins, including social upheavals caused by illegal migrants... Belarus was demonized so much that if they tell their citizens today that they want to mend relations with us, this would mean that they admit publicly that their policy was wrong. Three years of missed opportunities. Who should bear responsibility today for the migrants killed, beaten, and maimed at the border?” the foreign minister remarked.
Speaking about the participants of the conference, the minister noted that there were some representatives of Western countries there. “There was a representative of the British Embassy, there was the ambassador of Hungary, the country that currently presides in the EU... This way they would learn what happened at this conference, what messages were sent,” said Maksim Ryzhenkov.
At the same time, there were indeed no representatives of the European neighbors of Belarus at the conference. “As I have already said, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia have a certain political and economic interest in such demonization [of Belarus]. They tout themselves as an ‘outpost’ that ‘shields’ [the European Union]. They receive money, they embezzle it,” the foreign minister remarked.
Maksim Ryzhenkov is confident that Old Europe - the main destination of illegal migrants – understands these problems much better.
“This topic is very relevant for the West today. They see how grave it is. They know that they need to cooperate. But there should be political will for that. And it is non-existent today,” the foreign minister noted.
“We have reached the point where we cannot go to France and Berlin by train, although we could do this even at the peak of the Iron Curtain period. And this is not a decision of Brussels, but of our border partners, with whom we once were part of the Soviet bloc,” Maksim Ryzhenkov added.
“In my opinion, it is difficult for them today to re-engage with Belarus after our country has been demonized by all media in the West for three years. Belarus was accused of all sins, including social upheavals caused by illegal migrants... Belarus was demonized so much that if they tell their citizens today that they want to mend relations with us, this would mean that they admit publicly that their policy was wrong. Three years of missed opportunities. Who should bear responsibility today for the migrants killed, beaten, and maimed at the border?” the foreign minister remarked.
Speaking about the participants of the conference, the minister noted that there were some representatives of Western countries there. “There was a representative of the British Embassy, there was the ambassador of Hungary, the country that currently presides in the EU... This way they would learn what happened at this conference, what messages were sent,” said Maksim Ryzhenkov.
At the same time, there were indeed no representatives of the European neighbors of Belarus at the conference. “As I have already said, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia have a certain political and economic interest in such demonization [of Belarus]. They tout themselves as an ‘outpost’ that ‘shields’ [the European Union]. They receive money, they embezzle it,” the foreign minister remarked.
Maksim Ryzhenkov is confident that Old Europe - the main destination of illegal migrants – understands these problems much better.
“This topic is very relevant for the West today. They see how grave it is. They know that they need to cooperate. But there should be political will for that. And it is non-existent today,” the foreign minister noted.
“We have reached the point where we cannot go to France and Berlin by train, although we could do this even at the peak of the Iron Curtain period. And this is not a decision of Brussels, but of our border partners, with whom we once were part of the Soviet bloc,” Maksim Ryzhenkov added.
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