{"id":1061784,"date":"2021-11-28T11:58:29","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T16:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1061784"},"modified":"2021-11-28T11:58:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T16:58:40","slug":"exclusive-lukashenko-using-migrants-as-siege-weapons-to-save-his-skin-says-lithuanian-mp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-lukashenko-using-migrants-as-siege-weapons-to-save-his-skin-says-lithuanian-mp\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Lukashenko Using Migrants as &#039;Siege&#039; Weapons to &#039;Save His Skin&#039;, Says Lithuanian MP"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-lukashenko-using-migrants-as-siege-weapons-to-save-his-skin-says-lithuanian-mp%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1061784&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1212257233-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is an illegitimate leader who is attempting to cling on to power through using migrants as \u201csiege\u201d weapons against Europe to \u201csave his skin\u201d, a Lithuanian MP has told Breitbart News.<\/p>\n<p>Lukashenko, a former Soviet farm boss, who has been in control of Belarus since 1994, has seen his leadership thrown into doubt after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2020\/09\/28\/belarus-protests-reach-50th-day-100000-flood-streets\/\">mass protests<\/a> were held throughout the country following last year\u2019s election, which was widely believed to have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2020\/08\/10\/protests-erupt-in-belarus-as-dictator-lukashenko-wins-rigged-vote\/\">rigged<\/a> in favour of the iron-fisted authoritarian.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The struggles for the communist-style dictator have only mounted, with his regime suffering under painful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/eu-mulls-response-to-belarus-diverting-plane-to-nab-reporter\/\">sanctions<\/a> from the European Union, which were imposed after a flight carrying a dissident journalist was forced to land in Belarus by a&nbsp;MiG-29 fighter jet earlier this year. More <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/25\/eu-to-blacklist-firms-involved-with-transporting-migrants-to-belarus\/\">sanctions<\/a> from the EU are expected to be implemented against Belarussian companies next month in response to the migrant crisis, which is believed to have been manufactured by the Lukashenko regime to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/22\/belarus-migration-hybrid-war-is-greatest-attempt-to-destabilise-europe-since-cold-war-says-polish-pm\/\">blackmail<\/a>\u201d the political bloc.<\/p>\n<p>In an exclusive interview with Breitbart London,&nbsp;Lithuanian MP Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117 said that while the crisis at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/08\/watch-violent-clashes-polish-border-thousands-of-mid-east-migrants-besiege-nato-frontier\/\">Polish border<\/a> has garnered more international attention, the Lukashenko regime continues to put pressure on Lithuania by attempting to \u201cpush\u201d migrants across the EU member state and NATO ally\u2019s border.<\/p>\n<p>\u0160akalien\u0117 said that the Belarussian military and border officials employ different tactics on the Lithuanian border, taking multiple smaller groups of five to seven migrants at different locations on the border simultaneously in order to exhaust Lithuanian forces.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThese are not the tactics of attack, but they are tactics of siege,\u201d the MP said.<\/p>\n<p>Belarus is conducting a \u201chybrid attack where people are smuggled into the country, imported like objects,\u201d \u0160akalien\u0117 said, \u201cso we are protecting the borders of NATO and the EU from the unpredictable, very hostile dictator, who has instrumentalized migration as a means of political war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Lithuanian lawmaker said that&nbsp;Lukashenko \u201cis not a head of state, he is a self-assumed dictator.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u0160akalien\u0117 said that it is difficult to negotiate or deal with the \u201cunpredictable and dangerous\u201d Belarussian strongman, saying that his actions are becoming more erratic and that because \u201csaving his own skin is his top priority, he is willing to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.5324675324675\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe are not living in one big state, there are states and there are borders.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2ZSlt2volM\">https:\/\/t.co\/2ZSlt2volM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kurt Zindulka (@KurtZindulka) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KurtZindulka\/status\/1426904088973881349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The MP said that&nbsp;Lukashenko has likely realised that \u201chis people don\u2019t want him anymore\u201d and that hopefully there will be some sort of compromise within Belarus to \u201cmummify\u201d him into a position on some \u201cself-created council\u201d and allow free and fair elections to take place.<\/p>\n<p>Lukashenko, for his part, has as of late attempted to portray himself as a humanitarian defender of migrants, claiming that Slavs have \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/20\/lukashenko-absolutely-possible-belarus-forces-undermining-eu-border-i-wont-even-look-into-this\/\">big hearts<\/a>\u201d while seemingly excusing his own forces ferrying migrants to border regions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>In a televised speech in front of a group of migrants at the border with Poland on Friday, the Belarussian dictator told the migrants that they have a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/27\/lukashenko-illegal-migrants-have-a-right-to-enter-the-european-union\/\">right<\/a>\u201d to enter into the European Union and promised to aid them to achieve their \u201cdream\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.8835978835979\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Belarus Migration \u2018Hybrid War\u2019 Is Greatest Attempt to Destabilise Europe Since Cold War, Says Polish PM <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ddS21UpHAU\">https:\/\/t.co\/ddS21UpHAU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1463140527570751494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 23, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Many of the mostly Middle Eastern migrants were allegedly tricked by Lukashenko apparatchiks who gave the migrants false promises about being granted&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/15\/migrants-again-massing-on-poland-border-lured-by-false-promise-of-free-passage-to-germany\/\">free passage to Germany<\/a>&nbsp;if they reached Belarus, leaving thousands stranded in the cold at the Polish border, a plight that Lukashenko then attempted to use to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/24\/taking-2000-is-nothing-belarussian-dictator-lukashenko-demands-germany-take-migrants\/\">pressure Germany<\/a> into taking the migrants in.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u0160akalien\u0117 told Breitbart that she led efforts in the Lithuanian parliament to send supplies, such as thermal blankets and sleeping bags, shoes and socks, and thermoses full of hot water to the migrants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want these people to get cold, to freeze to death, but we understand that unfortunately Mr Lukashenko is still fully controlling the stream of migrants, shipping them to the border and throwing them at us like live shields.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe may not look that intimidating, but we are persistent and we have fully informed the migrants that they cannot cross\u2026 we can\u2019t take any more, it\u2019s simply impossible,\u201d she said, noting that her small country with a population of less than three million has already seen over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/lithuania-starts-building-first-european-wall-ward-off-migrants-belarus-2021-11-04\/\">4,000 migrants<\/a> cross the border with Belarus this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.1632653061224\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lukashenko: \u2018Absolutely Possible\u2019 Belarus Forces Undermining EU Border \u2013 \u2018I Won\u2019t Even Look into This\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6w8Fdm164W\">https:\/\/t.co\/6w8Fdm164W<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1462112503597604870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 20, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Over the past month, violent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/26\/europe-under-attack-polish-border-guards-again-defend-border-from-belarus-backed-migrants\/\">altercations<\/a> have been seen at the border between Poland and Belarus,&nbsp;with&nbsp;migrants seen&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/16\/watch-water-cannon-deployed-as-stone-hurling-migrants-rush-polish-border-officers-injured\/\">hurling stones<\/a>&nbsp;and even <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MON_GOV_PL\/status\/1460545257502908418\">stun grenades<\/a> at Polish soldiers and border officials, injuring seven in one such instance. In order to fend off the onslaught, the Poles used water cannons to push the migrants back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe they are trying to provoke a military conflict with Poland, attacking the parts of the border where defences have been put up, with migrants attacking the soldiers and officers in order to create dramatic visuals in the eyes of the media and to make propaganda videos,\u201d&nbsp;\u0160akalien\u0117 said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are trying to show that poor migrants are trying to go through these \u2018horrible\u2019 fences and barriers erected by the European Union,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.6315789473684\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u2018This Piece is Full of Bias!\u2019 Polish Official Fact-Checks CNN, BBC <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/naoo2h8eWp\">https:\/\/t.co\/naoo2h8eWp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1463175519936126984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 23, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Lithuanian MP said that there need to be more \u201cstrict and focussed international sanctions\u201d imposed on Lukashenko\u2019s inner circle as well as businesses that have been \u201cinstrumental in implementing the human smuggling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to hit what hurts because he is demolishing the lives of thousands of people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u0160akalien\u0117 went on to say that there are&nbsp;\u201cserious grounds\u201d for triggering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natolive\/topics_49187.htm\">Article 4<\/a> of the NATO convention, which states that \u201cParties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and the other Baltic states are in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/11\/15\/poland-lithuania-latvia-mull-invoking-nato-article-4-over-belarus-migrant-crisis\/\">talks<\/a> surrounding the possible triggering of the article, which has only been done four times in the history of NATO and is only one step away from the possibility of armed conflict if Article 5 is invoked.&nbsp;\u0160akalien\u0117 said that it would be crucial for all states to agree to such an act in order to represent the full \u201cweight\u201d of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this siege is going to continue and intensity, and if our borders are going to be attacked again and again in multiple spots\u201d it would be possible for something akin to the Russian invasion of Crimea to occur in one of the Baltic states, she warned.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.6158940397351\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hybrid Warfare: Poland Predicts Long, Drawn Out Belarus Border Crisis <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/k9wxaizlaO\">https:\/\/t.co\/k9wxaizlaO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1463474729717743621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 24, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KurtZindulka\">@KurtZindulka<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is an illegitimate leader who is attempting to cling on to power through using migrants as \u201csiege\u201d weapons against Europe to \u201csave his skin\u201d, a Lithuanian &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1061784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1061784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1061784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}