Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus regarding the visit of EU representatives to Poland and Lithuania

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus observed with interest the attempts to stage a show around Ms von der Leyen's visit to the EU countries bordering Belarus. As we had feared, this trip turned out to be a waste of time in terms of any progress towards improving the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU member states.

Statements about "Belarusian lurking border guards with long-barrelled guns," made just yesterday in Poland, once again clearly demonstrated the flights of fancy of European officials. Instead of discussing real issues and working together to find long-term solutions, Brussels prefers to invent new horror stories and declare territories "frontline" areas, where, fortunately, there has been and is no fighting.

We are ready to repeat once again: Belarus is not at war with anyone and has no intention of going to war. We are not pursuing an aggressive and openly militaristic policy. We are not constantly increasing military spending. We are not stubbornly creating an image of our neighbour as an enemy. Billions of euros of European taxpayers' money are being spent not on strengthening peace and security in our region, but on fuelling conflict and escalating tensions.

While steps are being taken in the East and even in the West across the Atlantic to restore peace, Brussels, under the guise of slogans about "shared responsibility" and "protecting the democratic world," is in fact doing everything it can to escalate and expand the conflict in our region.

We are convinced that such thoughtless and, in essence, highly irresponsible policies on the part of European bureaucrats pose a direct threat to the future of Europe itself.