Lukashenko commented on the incident involving armed people from Belarus entering Latvia
Kyiv • UNN
Lukashenko denied Belarus’s involvement in the October 6 incident at the border with Latvia. He claimed that the event was allegedly staged for EU money.
Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko accused the Latvian side of staging an incident on the border that occurred in early October. He made the statement at a meeting with the leadership of the security agencies, UNN reports.
Details
Lukashenko said that the Belarusian side was not involved in the incident.
"We know perfectly well—I have already been briefed on this—that all of this was done by the Latvians as an information pretext to obtain money from the European Union. We have absolutely nothing to do with the claim that we infiltrated their territory—people in masks, military personnel—who allegedly seized or captured someone, or forced some group of migrants in there. You couldn't come up with anything more absurd," Lukashenko said.
He added that such operations are not carried out without coordination with the head of state.
"Such things were not coordinated with me. Therefore, they were not carried out either. I know this for certain. Because your conscientiousness is absolutely beyond doubt," he told the security officials present.
Lukashenko called the reports in the media about the incident and the accusations leveled against Belarus "lies."
"They need money. Neither the three Baltic states, the former republics of the Soviet Union, nor Poland have sufficient capacity to satisfy their desires. Especially in the military sphere. Take Poland, for example—it is buying tanks and other weapons, which are not cheap today. There is no firewood for the population, but tanks and other military equipment have to be purchased," Lukashenko said.
We remind you
On October 6, armed escorts threatened Latvian soldiers and forcibly directed about 20 migrants across the border from Belarus. The NDS called it a provocation.