BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

5th December 2005

Belarus appeals for help

From Warsaw Business Journal

by Michael Benjamin

The head of the KGB in Belarus has hit out at the international community for not helping the country deal with illegal immigrants.

Stepan Sukhorenko, the head of the country's security forces - still known by its cold war name, KGB - said that the number of migrants had more than doubled since its neighbors, Poland and Lithuania, joined the EU last year. "The level of interaction between Belarus and foreign intelligence services and security forces is largely determined by the political situation," he said. "It therefore cannot be said that Belarus is getting sufficient or appropriate help for its efforts."

Sukhorenko claimed many of these immigrants are involved in terrorist activities: "There are migrants from regions with heightened terrorist activity. Many illegal migrants are influenced by international criminal or terrorist organizations and pose a real threat to the stability not only of Belarus but Western Europe."

The security chief believes the flow of migrants has soared to 100,000 a year, compared to the 30,000-50,000 annually before the EU's major expansion. He says that in recent operations his forces netted 54 groups made up of 755 people, among which were 20 individuals "suspected of links to international extremists and terrorist organizations."

EU leaders are unlikely to take kindly to a lecture on security from the Belarusian government. The EU and the US have largely shunned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and have accused him of targeting dissidents, closing down media outlets and falsifying elections. The country is currently considering laws which will impose harsh sentences on anyone suspected of fomenting protests, such as those which lead to Ukraine's Orange Revolution. (Reuters)

Source:

http://www.wbj.pl/?command=article&id=29606&type=wbj