According to the Russian News Agency reported on the 18th, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogrezko in an article written to the Ukrainian media, slammed the reaction of Western countries to the immigration problem at the border between Belarus and Poland. In his view, Western leaders, including German caretaker Chancellor Angela Merkel, have shown weakness in their dialogue with Belarus and Russia.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Ogretzko Source: Russian News Agency
Ogresko declared, "Merkel's call with Lukashenko was in effect an admission that he was the legitimate president of Belarus, which immediately caused outrage among the EU countries." Lukashenko won the 2020 Belarusian election, but the EU believes the election was "rigged".
The former Ukrainian foreign minister also called the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron to hold a telephone talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the migrant crisis "shameful." He was outraged by the fact that Russia was allegedly "brandishing weapons on the Ukrainian border" at the time. Ogretzko said, "What is this? Is it just absurd cynicism, or is it completely unaware of what's going on? To me, this remains a mystery. According to French media reports, in addition to discussing immigration, Macron and Putin also talked about the situation in the Black Sea and the situation in Eastern Ukraine. Macron told Putin directly that "we are deeply concerned about and willing to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine." Putin responded that it was the Ukrainian authorities who "made the negotiations difficult."
French President Emmanuel Macron Image source: Visual China
Ogresko concluded that Germany and France would be "under Russian influence for a long time, so Ukraine and its allies need to "explain" to the leaders of both countries that they are "making a huge geopolitical mistake."
This summer, the number of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa from the Middle East and North Africa, on Belarus' border with Poland and the Baltic States, increased. On November 8, about 2,000 people gathered in front of the cordon, and the situation escalated further. They spontaneously set up camps and made several attempts to break through the border, but were stopped by Poland, who used stun grenades, high-pressure water guns, and tear gas against them.
Polish law enforcement officers use tear gas on migrants Source: Reuters
Western countries have denounced Belarus over immigration, but the latter has denied all allegations. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus would no longer restrict the movement of people because belarus "has neither money nor capacity" because of EU sanctions.
Recently, some Western countries have begun to blame Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the aggressive rhetoric a hope to turn the problem "from a headache to a health problem," noting that Moscow was ready to help solve the immigration problem in every possible way. At the same time, Putin stressed that European countries themselves, which have created the conditions for the influx of refugees, are now trying to shirk their responsibilities. (Editor: HHJ)