The Belarusian Foreign Ministry “was left with a bad taste” after the Russian government’s statement regarding the closure of borders, which Moscow explained by saying that Belarus does not comply with the recommendations of the World Health Organization.
The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anatoly Glaz, stated this on the official website of the department, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“It’s sad that the decisions of our Russian friends are based more on some abstract proportions than on real data or people’s interests... By the way, to date, two cases of coronavirus being imported into Belarus from Moscow have been identified. The rest were also brought from outside. The Belarusians have not yet exported it to anyone... Unfortunately, today Russians and Belarusians are artificially placed on opposite sides,” Glaz said.
He claims that Belarus complies with all recommendations of the WHO, which, according to Glaz, “states that restrictions on the movement of people during emergencies are ineffective.”
In fact, only the Belarusian branch of WHO made such a statement, and only on its Facebook page, causing a flurry of indignant comments.
Political scientist Alexei Dzermant, close to the Belarusian authorities, also tried to put pressure on the conscience of Russians.
“The closed border with Belarus is psychologically difficult to perceive, as if a detachment had been placed behind the backs of the Belarusians,” he wrote in his telegram channel.
Let us remind you that Belarus has not closed any of its borders, although all its neighbors have done so. Russia is the last one tonight. President Lukashenko accuses everyone of being excessively hysterical in connection with the coronavirus and recommends everyone to drink vodka, go to the bathhouse and work on tractors.
“This was outdated a thousand years ago when there were no medicines in the villages. The President, you see. As he was the director of the collective farm, his outlook remains the same,” LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky said to Lukashenko.
At the same time, Belarusians themselves are concerned about the inaction of their authorities. Former parliament member Anna Konopatskaya held a single picket near the Government House in Minsk demanding the introduction of quarantine. Opposition telegram channels made a similar collective statement.
There is panic in Belarusian universities, since quarantine is not imposed, but special teams regularly take someone away from dormitories in special boxes. Panic rumors are spreading on social networks that the authorities are hiding the real number of cases.
A girl who has visited the USA and two European countries is outraged that at Minsk airport they do not check anyone or even take their temperature.