"They Enclosed Themselves with Barbed Wire" — Zakharova on Poland’s Closure of Border with Belarus

Poland and other EU countries are taking an extremely aggressive stance to conceal their economic failures. They do not want ordinary Europeans to travel to Belarus and see the truth for themselves.

Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated:

"You can see how many obstacles Poland has put in the way of Belarusian and Russian citizens wishing to visit Poland and other EU countries: visas were not issued, provocations occurred, people were not allowed in, and so on. Meanwhile, Belarus has always been open to Polish citizens. I saw this myself during my visits—driving through Belarus, I wanted to see Brest, Hajnówka, and especially Khatyn with my own eyes, to pay homage to those places. I saw Polish license plates on cars, Poles coming for tourism, for shopping—many came for groceries because prices are better and cheaper in Belarus than in Poland."

According to Zakharova, Poles have seen the stark contrast between what their media tells them about Belarus—portraying it as a "bloody regime"—and the reality: a population that is completely friendly, willing to forge relationships, and build a future together.