Alexander Lukashenko

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said today that Minsk had absolutely no interest in war and that conflict could only erupt if Belarus or its close ally Russia were directly attacked, Reuters reported.

Poland blames Belarusian regime for encouraging illegal immigrants to fly to Belarus promising entrance into the EU just as Turkey did in 2020 at the Greek borders

"Vladimir Bazanov and his wife were granted a Schengen visa at the request of UEFA. The visa was issued by the territorially responsible Hungarian consulate on May 21, 2021 on behalf of Switzerland, acting within the framework of the visa representation agreement," the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement to BIRN.

"I have to tell you that I talk about the Balkans at almost every meeting with President Putin. And who do we have in the Balkans? That's right, we have Serbia. It has always been a stronghold of Slavs in the Balkans. It still is", Lukashenko said during a meeting with the president of the friendship group with Belarus of the Serbian Parliament, Dragomir Karic.

"I drafted the Constitution. Lawyers put it down in writing, and I dictated it, because I saw, as a president, what powers I need to maintain the country. Now we will publish it, in about a month."
A referendum on a new constitution could be held around February 20, 2022, "unless war breaks out," the Belarusian leader added.

Poland said on Nov. 20 that Belarus has changed tactics in their border crisis by directing smaller groups of migrants to several points along the European Union's eastern frontier.

Though there have been signs of the crisis easing, Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he expected the border showdown to be long drawn out while Belarus said the situation remained "tense".

Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have flocked to Europe after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced in May that he was easing measures against those wishing to emigrate to the West.

Hope for de-escalating the crisis, which has seen thousands camping in desperate conditions on the border for weeks, had been mounting in recent days, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko twice by phone.

The European Union must seal its external borders to deter migrants who are no longer welcome in the affluent 27-nation bloc, Slovenian Interior Minister Ales Hoys, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said today, Reuters reported.

Hundreds of migrants who were camped in the cold on the Poland-Belarus border have been moved to a nearby warehouse in Belarusian territory, reports said on Nov. 17, with some still harboring hopes of entering the European Union.