KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned that his country will not try to stem a flow of migrants to the European Union in response to new EU sanctions. The EU and the United States have ordered tougher sanctions on Belarus after it diverted a passenger jet last month to arrest a dissident journalist. Lukashenko denounced the sanctions as part of what he calls a “hybrid war” waged by the West against Belarus and warned the country’s EU neighbors that they shouldn’t expect Belarusian authorities to stop illegal migrants from crossing the border. Earlier this month, officials in Lithuania accused Belarus of opening the doors for migrants to cross their 680-kilometer (420-mile) border.
