He's been sending Polish border guards to the hospital with serious injuries. Since Poland's proposal, there's been a wave of attacks on border guards by illegal migrants armed with rocks and knives. Just yesterday, a Polish border guard was hospitalized in serious condition with a fractured skull and a damaged eye socket. Earlier, another guard was hospitalized with a stab wound.
This begs the question: who's to blame for our neighbors walling themselves off from Belarus with an "iron curtain"? I think the answer is obvious: the Lukashenko regime. All the problems at the border, and the sanctions that come with them, will end when the Lukashenko regime in Belarus is replaced by a democratic government.
Polish journalists often ask me, "How do we counter this?"
Lukashenko is committing crimes against humanity in Belarus and war crimes against Ukraine – the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied territories, the hijacking of a commercial airliner, the orchestration of a migrant crisis... And this has been going on for four years.
This gives him a sense of impunity. He's already humiliated Europe, in a way. He wants to show that Europe is powerless to stop him. Of course, we can't fight fire with fire when dealing with a dictator, but we have other tools at our disposal: strong trade sanctions, which Poland can also implement at a national level.
Second, we need strict enforcement of existing sanctions by EU entities that do business with the Lukashenko regime. Lukashenko is lining his pockets by circumventing these sanctions.
And third, and most importantly, the case of crimes against humanity must be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The National Anti-Crisis Management has already compiled a dossier of evidence. Our team is ready to assist in any way we can.
Today, it all comes down to political will.
Lukashenko must be held accountable. We need to show him that the West is stronger. It's a game of chicken, but if we back down and don't react, Lukashenko will only double down.
Comments