Latvia’s president says there is no need to speak with Lukashenko about the migration crisis

Latvia’s President Egils Levits does not believe it is necessary to speak with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in the context of the migration crisis, as reported by the State President’s Chancellery.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda said in an interview to Britain’s BBC that the illegal migration crisis, which escalated on the European Union’s external border shared by Belarus, could be resolved through talks with Lukashenko. Commenting on the president’s statements, his office explained later that this does not mean recognizing Lukashenko’s regime as legitimate.
What Nausėda said caused a resonance among Seima deputies and political experts.
Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs said the president’s words came as a surprise, considering that until now the president was very much against contacts with Lukashenko.
When asked about Latvian president’s position on this issue, the representative of the president’s chancellery said Latvia’s position is clear.
Deičmane stressed that both the EU and Latvia expect Lukashenko to take measures to end the hybrid attack on the EU’s border. They also expect the Belarusian leader to release all political prisoners and end violence committed against Belarusian civil society.
«The Minsk should not hope that by exacting pressure on EU borders it will be possible to secure legitimacy of Lukashenko’s regime. Latvia and the EU are of the same mind: Belarus must organise repeated, free and democratic elections with presence from international observers. We also expect the EU to take joint measures to enhance border protection,» says the representative of the State President’s Chancellery.
BNN previously reported that as a result of hybrid attacks, which many believe were orchestrated by Lukashenko’s regime, thousands of illegal migrants have been trying to enter Latvia, Lithuania and Poland lately. Most of those people arrived to Belarus as tourists from Iraq.
Europe accuses Minsk of attempts to take revenge for supporting Belarusian opposition and the sanctions imposed on Belarus in response to the regime’s violent repressions against protests last year.