Lukashenko threatens to block European transit if Poland shuts border

Lukashenko has stated that he is ready to halt energy transit through Russia if Poland closes the border.

That’s according to BelTA, Ukrinform reports.

The self-proclaimed leader in Minsk believes, if Poland decides to close the border with Belarus, this will be to Warsaw’s own detriment, because then the Poles will not be able to acquire energy from Russia.

Also, Lukashenko threatened European Union member states with a ban on the transit of goods through Belarus to Russia and China.

"The Poles have decided to close the border with Belarus – well, go ahead, close it. We don’t travel to the European Union too often. Our interests today lay mostly with Russia, China, and the East. And if I close (borders - ed.), what will happen to this flow, which mainly goes through us to Russia and China?" Lukashenko said in an interview with Dmitriy Kiselyov, CEO of Russia Today International News Agency Dmitry Kiselyov.

Lukashenko noted that European goods mostly get to Russia and beyond only through Belarus, as transit through Ukraine and the Baltic has not been well-established.

As reported, the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has been going on since August. Poland and the Baltic countries have accused Belarus and Russia of waging hybrid aggression through an engineered flow of migrants.

By the end of the first half of 2022, Poland intends to significantly strengthen its border with Belarus, building a five-meter wall there worth some EUR 350 million.

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