Political Scientist: Lukashenka No Longer Decides Anything

Russia is not just watching the crisis at the border, but is also actively participating in it.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka is not acting independently when organizing a migration crisis, although at first it was his idea. This opinion was voiced on air by historian and publicist Alexander Friedman on Euroradio.

— “The migration crisis named after Lukashenka” ended in a major defeat for the Belarusian authorities. Lukashenka did not achieve his goals, and then he was forced to act more carefully so as not to provoke new sanctions.

But, according to the expert, now Lukashenka does not decide anything on his own: if Putin wants an escalation at the border, then new refugees will keep coming.

— If in 2021 Moscow simply watched Lukashenka provoking a crisis, now the overwhelming majority of those arriving in Europe have Russian visas. They receive them in their countries, fly to Moscow, and then head to Belarus. That is, now Russia is not just observing, but also actively participating in this crisis.