Expert on death of refugees on Belarus-EU border: Latvian SS spirit not disappeared

In his talk with Alfa Radio, political expert Piotr Petrovsky speculated on the barbaric attitude of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to migrants, on the tough migration policy of the European Union and on European values

On October 24th, the State Border Committee reported the discovery of two bodies of refugees on the Latvian-Belarusian border. A total of ten corpses have been found on the border with Latvia since the beginning of the year. Poland and Lithuania also continue to pursue a brutal policy against migrants. Some time ago, readmission agreements were suspended, and Belarus’ neighbours did everything for a migration crisis to occur. Since early 2023, according to various estimates, 21-23 dead bodies of migrants have been found at the borders; those people were beaten before they died.

“Look, almost half of all corpses were found on a small section of the Belarusian-Latvian border. The Latvian SS spirit, which we remember from the times of WWII, has not disappeared anywhere. I do not think that the main flow of migrants is heading to Latvia through this small section. Let us also pay attention to the dynamics. It cannot be said that the number of migrants in our direction has increased against the 2021 and 2022 levels. On the contrary, flows in the Mediterranean direction – Lampedusa, Southern Italy, Spain – are now more active. There has never been such a situation, but harsh actions of the authorities against migrants have been launched,” Mr. Petrovsky said.

The expert believes this trend can be connected with the rejection of the migration policy of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Olaf Scholz [the current Chancellor of Germany] recently told a German publication that migrants would be deported. Note: that was said not by the leader of Alternative for Germany [Tino Chrupalla], a party that promoted restrictions in migration policy from the very beginning, but never called for deportation or even more so for the murder of migrants. The party said that it was necessary to pursue a strict migration policy for the admission of migrants to the European Union, Germany. It was criticised for that then, it was called fascists and Nazis. At present, Germany – the most loyal EU country in relation to migrants – has Scholz who advocates deportation. The country also has CDU/CSU, Merkel's former ruling party that actually launched this migration mess. This party now says that the country’s policy towards migrants is too soft, and it should act tougher. It also calls on former member and head of the National Bank of Germany, Thilo Sarrazin, the author of the Germany. Self-Destruction book, to return to the party. However, back in 2010, before the migration crisis, the book had an idea: to close the borders, to deport migrants harshly, to clear Germany of ‘alien elements’,” Mr. Petrovsky noted.

The expert called such an attitude towards migrants inhuman. After all, he believes everyone understands that Berlin sets the tone in the European Union. It also manages Brussels and its politics.

“We see that the ruling elites are now adopting the practices that they harshly condemned 5-6 years ago, accusing their opponents of anti-humanity. Meanwhile, at present, they are following a course of the tougher rhetoric and the most terrible practices. This means that they give the ‘green light’ to the Baltic States, Poland to do the same with regard to migrants. Look at the dynamics: last year, there were 15 deaths, and 23 have already been registered in 2023. I think this number will increase. We need to forget about human and minority rights in EU with its slogans, according to its constitution, the Lisbon agreement… They have clearly defined: there is the first class of people, there is the second class, and the third one. The first class includes the EU citizens of ‘old Europe’, the second – the EU citizens of ‘new Europe’, and the third – migrants from Ukraine. The fourth class embraces migrants from Arab countries, and the fifth one – migrants from Africa. Based on this, forceful and criminal actions are carried out against those travelling to the European Union. True, they are travelling illegally, but there are legislative procedures, there are laws that regulate the authorities’ actions in relation to illegal migrants. A person could have entered the EU illegally, but at the same time he will get the refugee status under the EU legislation. There should be a commission, consideration of relevant cases. What do we witness in turn? There is no commission, no consideration. Moreover, there is no human deportation, there is only the quiet murdering of people. This killing is done in a manner so that nobody could see it. They later say that these people were killed by others,” Mr. Petrovsky said.

The programme host, Polina Konoga, clarified that people are beaten, their clothes are taken off, and they are thrown out on the border in cold weather.

“I have a question to the security forces of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland who are doing all this: what values do you follow and how can you perform illegal orders? What will they do next? It breaks the psyche! They are told: there will be people there, kill them. They are definitely told that if they kill?! I do not think a normal person would go to the border zone and start killing people without an order. It is illegal to do this even if there is an order! Migrants are going without weapons, without violence. If they show violence, then they should be detained and legally punished – according to the law. Actually, this is not being done! Such actions under the state roof of the Baltic States are true mass murder. 23 people [have been killed] this year, 15 – last year; this is the number of people thrown into the border zone. We do not know how many of them have been simply utilised. I think they were not even buried,” Mr. Petrovsky stressed.

The programme host recalled the events of November 2022, when there were many refugees on the Belarusian-Polish border. Not only those wishing to enter the EU suffered there, but also some journalists. A large number of migrants were taken to Belarusian hospitals, refugees gave birth in hospitals in Belarus, there were pregnant women. Meanwhile, Belarus’ neighbours continue to create lawlessness, while teaching democracy, claiming that there is dictatorship in the republic and there is no freedom.

“Liberal democracy is no longer such. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says bluntly that dissent on certain issues is unacceptable. The famous comedy film of 2015 about the return of Hitler (when he appears in our modern world and is looking for a party that he is ready to support – and the Green Party becomes such) has become a reality. Ms. Baerbock is now a mini-Fuhrer who is illiterate and covers not even a dictatorship – a legally formalised state of the country, but a real tyranny that uses non-legal norms and generally operates outside the legal system. How can we talk about murder without trial?! After all, they reminded us of the impossibility of the death penalty. They say that Belarus has the death penalty, and the Belarusian people do not have the right to decide at referendums whether the death penalty should be in the country or not. In turn, they are killing people regularly – doing this without any trial or investigation! I repeat once again: 37 [dead] people have been found in less than 2 years! The trend indicates that there may be up to 35-45 corpses next year,” the expert added.

The programme host asked Mr. Petrovsky if there are ways out of the migration crisis in Europe, or there are no simple ways to solve it. She wondered how Belarus should behave, given what is happening on its borders and taking into account that the international community does not express any concerns, and human rights organisations keep silence.

“Well, bringing to justice those who tried to stage a coup in Belarus is a violation of democracy, and killing innocent migrants without trial and investigation is the crown of democracy,” the expert smiled. “What is going on? Let us recall the Roman Empire of the last times, when it was in agony. Now look at the migrants. These people endure hardships. There more than 10 percent of migrants with French passports, for example. Let us count how many have come illegally. Let us see who gives birth more. I think it will be the same with the European Union as with the Roman Empire. They call everyone in the east barbarians. Actually, barbarians came and destroyed Rome. To be more correct, they themselves had prior destroyed it to the nines. There is collective dissonance, when people say different things every day. At first, there was one ideology, but it was completely ignored. Selectivity is in place, as well as cultural racism and liberal fascism. This is terrible. I thank God I was not born there. It is better to be born in African countries and starve than to be born in ‘a miracle union’ called the European Union, where perversions and murders of people are viewed as a norm. It is a horror, and it cannot be called differently.”