Lukashenka Sees Strategic Advantage in Fences Along Belarusian Border
Reform.news Editorial Team · 13 October 2026, 12:35
https://reform.news/en/lukashenka-sees-strategic-advantage-in-fences-along-belarusian-border/Aliaksandr Lukashenka, at today’s meeting on the results of an inspection of the 7th Separate Special Police Brigade of the Interior Ministry’s Internal Troops, sought to turn into a strategic advantage the fences built by neighbouring EU countries along their borders with Belarus to prevent migrants from crossing illegally. In his view, if Poles, Lithuanians or Latvians decide to attack Belarus, they will have to climb over their own fences.
“I thank them, speaking to you as a military man addressing fellow military personnel. I thank them for building this fence. In the event of aggression on their part (and if aggression does occur, it can only come from their side, not ours), they will have to overcome this fence. That works to our advantage,” he said.
Lukashenka called the construction of the fences foolish and said neighbouring countries were welcome to build even more of them.
“So if they build two more lines of such fences, we will only be grateful to them. This is utter foolishness on the part of some military personnel… Most likely, not military personnel, but the ‘clever’ civilian ‘strategists’ there. Their tactic is to fence themselves off. God be with them; let them put up fences,” he said.
Lukashenka stressed, however, that the fences are not very effective at stopping migrants. While he said neighbouring countries would have to overcome their own fences in the event of an attack on Belarus, migrants need only a few minutes to cross them.
“I have said before that, according to reports I received earlier, migrants need between four and six minutes to get over this fence. So what have they done? They built this fence and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it,” he said.
It should be noted that the barriers are installed mainly along the “green border”. They are also equipped with gates and smaller access gates. Border crossing points are located on the main cross-border roads.
In addition, against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, neighbouring countries are also taking measures to fortify border areas: they are building stockpiles of counter-mobility equipment, establishing defensive positions, preparing bridges and, in some cases, making the terrain swampier.