GRODNO DISTRICT, 26 November (BelTA) – The financial aid for refugees provided by the West is so meager because some personalities seek to steal part of these funds, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told reporters on 26 November, BelTA has learned.
“After my yesterday's statement, they coughed up a paltry $260,000. We counted three days earlier that we spent a total of $12.6 million [in aid to refugees]. They transferred $260,000 to our Red Cross. You see, they are so disgusting. And why is money not coming? Because our self-exiled opposition is over there now – these people used to be the recipients of funding – even on animals, nature conservation, something else. And it went through Lithuania, Poland, through the filters that sucked out this money. Now they are gone. Now money has to be transferred directly to Shevtsov [Secretary General of the Belarus Red Cross Dmitry Shevtsov]. Shevtsov is a patriot, and this money will be used solely to help people. And they will not be lost along the way, because there are no intermediaries. Therefore, they are now trying to come up with a scheme to transfer the money in such a way to steal half of it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“If they are reluctant to pay, we are okay with it, we will sort it out on our own. But we will not protect them [the West and Europe in particular]. They were the first to break our readmission agreements,” the Belarusian leader said.
