Border tensions fan flames of migration politics

Possible assistance

In an interview with the BBC released on Friday, Lukashenko said it is "absolutely possible" his forces helped migrants cross into Poland. He had been asked to comment on the Polish Defense Ministry's statement that Belarusian officers assisted illegal migrants to cross the border.

"We're Slavs. We have hearts. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany," Lukashenko said. "Maybe someone helped them. I won't even look into this," he added.

"I told the EU I'm not going to detain migrants on the border, hold them at the border, and if they keep coming from now on, I still won't stop them, because they're not coming to my country, they're going to yours," he said.

"But I didn't invite them here, and to be honest, I don't want them to go through Belarus."

Lukashenko accused Polish law enforcers of violating the Belarusian border during clashes with migrants at the Bruzgi checkpoint.

"Do you know that it is even forbidden to point a weapon toward a neighboring territory? Why did you pour water with poisonous chemicals from water cannons 100 meters into our territory? This is a violation of a state border. You violated a state border, at the very least. You threw flashbangs on our territory," Lukashenko said.

Still, Belarus has said it wants to de-escalate the crisis.

On Thursday, Lukashenko's spokeswoman Natalya Eismont said there were about 7,000 migrants in the country.

She said Belarus would send 5,000 of them home and claimed that Merkel would negotiate with the EU on creating "a humanitarian corridor to Germany" for the 2,000 on the border.