“I never approved this”: Lukashenka claims Latvian border attack was inside job
Lukashenka at a meeting with security officials / БЕЛТА
The incident on the Belarusian-Latvian border was staged by the Latvians themselves. This statement was made by Aliaksandr Lukashenka at a meeting with security officials on 13 October.
"We know perfectly well — I have already been briefed on this — that all of this was done by the Latvians themselves as an information pretext to get money from the European Union", he said.
The reference is to an incident that took place at the beginning of October. According to Latvian sources, a group of armed individuals escorted around 20 migrants who were illegally crossing the Belarusian-Latvian border. When Latvian border guards appeared, weapons — or an object resembling a weapon — were pointed at them. The unidentified individuals later crossed the border and damaged infrastructure on Latvian territory, returning to Belarusian territory before the Latvian border guards arrived.
On 12 October, a group calling itself "Black Russians" claimed responsibility for the action. It is believed to be backed by the intelligence services of Belarus or Russia.
"Operations of this kind, involving an incursion into the territory of a neighbouring state, are impossible without the president's approval. No such things were approved by me. Which means they were not carried out. I know this for certain", Lukashenka commented.
