Lukashenko expecting second phone call with Merkel after her consultations with EU countries
MINSK. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has disclosed the details of his phone conversation with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel held on Monday, the presidential press service said.
"The refugee problem and the situation on the border were discussed. The head of state put forth proposals for resolving the situation in general. The parties agreed not to voice specific details for now. Angela Markel took time in order to discuss this issue with members of the European Union. Afterwards, another phone conversation should take place between the countries' leaders," the press service said.
According to Lukashenko, the first question that Merkel and he discussed was "the refugees, the escalation on the state border."
"We agreed that no one, neither the European Union, nor Belarus, needs this escalation. And, no matter what someone wants, we cannot allow this escalation, let alone a hot clash. And we never sought this escalation. I have just said that there are some 20,000 armed guards on that side of the border. But we have not deployed a single platoon, a single unit of our Armed Forces there on the border. The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces has not issued such an order. But we have plans of how to counteract any aggression on their part. I have issued such an order to the defense minister, other generals and security agencies," Lukashenko said at a conference on the border situation underway in Minsk on Tuesday.
The second matter discussed with Merkel was the refugee flow.
"Of course, we have different approaches to this problem. The European Union and Belarus differ on this issue. They are very much concerned by the influx of refugees to Belarus," he said.
"But they have absolutely no idea that we are not inviting them to our country. And they do not know that we have sent back some 5,000 people (4,681 two days ago) this fall. In other words, we are not gathering refugees all over the world and are not bringing them to Belarus, as Poland has informed the European Union. Like in any other country, we accept those who legally arrive in Belarus. But those who have committed even the slightest violation of the law are put on planes and are sent back. There have been around 5,000 such people to date. I briefed the German chancellor on this issue," Lukashenko said.
"The third issue that we discussed, and I insisted on the need to discuss it, is the refugee camp, which is the main problem today. To date, over 2,100 people, or even more, have amassed at the Bruzgi crossing. You know that they set up a camp there 800 meters from this border crossing and stayed there all the time for a week. Yesterday they left the place, moved 800 meters forward and filled the Bruzgi border crossing. This is the largest problem. As I told Merkel, the problem is that if we do not save these people, we will be beaten: both Belarus and especially the EU, which did not let in these people. That's why, an urgent solution must be found to the situation with these people," Lukashenko said.
"In this context, I put forth a proposal for resolving this situation as a whole. I will not provide its details at this point. Merkel and I agreed not to unveil its details for now. She asked for time, for a pause in order to discuss this proposal with EU members," he said.
"There can be no complaints against Belarus," Lukashenko said.
"We are doing everything we can to protect these people. The most dangerous thing is an attempt to smuggle weapons into the [refugee] camp. We are engaging colossal forces in order to prevent that," he said.