A migrant crisis orchestrated by strongman Lukashenko
The Belarus president aims to destabilise the EU with an avalanche of immigrants after the uprising against his regime
Alexander Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus since 1994, and has ruled the former Soviet republic with an iron fist. In the summer of 2020, much of Belarusian society revolted. Fed up with corruption, they complained that the presidential election had been a scam and that there were too few opportunities in the country.
The protests ended with thousands arrested and beaten by security forces and a disorganised opposition in exile. Thanks to the invaluable support of Russian president Vladimir Putin, the uprising lasted a few weeks, but it was not enough to unseat Lukashenko, who is seen as one of Europe’s last dictators.
Emerging victorious from the attempted uprising, Lukashenko was hit by heavy sanctions from the European Union, causing him to hit back at what he knows is the EU’s Achilles heel: immigration. In November, a new migration crisis erupted that was reminiscent of the summer of 2015, when thousands fled the Syrian conflict. This time, many of the migrants are from Afghanistan, where the Taliban regained power last summer, as well as citizens from other places afflicted with violence.
Lukashenko did not miss his opportunity to destabilise the EU and used the migrant crisis to put members like Poland and Lithuania on the ropes. The European Commission has accused the Minsk regime of transporting people to the Polish border. The Polish government claims that more than 30,000 people had tried to cross the border in 2021, some 17,000 since October.
Lukashenko has used the same strategy that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan once used, securing financial aid to prevent migrants from entering Europe. It is not his only weapon, however, as the Belarussian president has also threatened to cut off gas to the EU. “In Europe they turn on the heating and threaten us with even more sanctions and the idea of closing their borders. What if we cut off the gas? I recommend they think well beforehand. If they impose additional and unacceptable sanctions on us, we will respond,” Lukashenko said before the end of the year.
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