“The main thing is that they are hot” Lukashenko makes fun of Europe
09/14/2022, 22:17
As Moscow is strangling gas supplies, Europe fears a winter energy crisis. For Belarusian ruler Lukashenko, worries are a godsend. In a video, the Putin supporter is shown chopping wood. He also offers the West some of his firewood.
Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko scoffed at concerns in Europe about the energy crisis as he cut wood. “We are not going to let Europe freeze to death,” Lukashenko says in the video, which was broadcast on state television. “Let’s help our brothers,” adds Lukashenko. “Maybe one day they’ll help us too.”
“Europeans can’t be picky at the moment. Fir or birch – the main thing is they’re hot,” says Lukashenko sarcastically, standing in front of a large pile of wood with an axe. At the same time, he offers to share his firewood. “We must think about how we can make this firewood available to the farming and working class families there and not to the big business magnates.”
It is also important to ensure that Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stay warm. “They’re our neighbors, aren’t they? Maybe they’ll clear their heads,” Lukashenko comments mockingly. Last year, thousands of people tried to enter Poland illegally from Belarus. Warsaw accuses Lukashenko of deliberately smuggling refugees across the border to pressure the EU, which Lukashenko denies.
Lukashenko, who has been sanctioned by the West for cracking down on the opposition, is an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Belarus is financially and politically heavily dependent on Russia. In February, Russia launched the military operation in Ukraine from several directions, including Belarusian territory. As Russia has largely cut off gas supplies to Europe, a winter energy crisis is feared.