No more planes, no trains… Forced to take the bus Lyudmila, 70, remembers with nostalgia the time when traveling to Europe, from Belarus, was easy.
This country has indeed been targeted by draconian sanctions since its President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, violently suppressed an opposition movement in 2020, going so far as to order the hijacking of an airliner, then to helped Russia invade Ukraine last year.
At the last open border post with neighboring Poland, Lioudmila recalls her trouble-free travels across Europe, particularly to Spain, in the years leading up to the massive opposition movement of 2020.
“Everything has become more difficult, of course”, confides the retiree, waiting, on a piece of sunny lawn, that all the passengers of the bus in the direction of Warsaw have passed the interminable identity checks.
The journey takes an average of 12 hours, plus the wait at the border.
Because the Belarusians now depend on the road, in particular towards the Polish capital, to leave their country located at the gates of the European Union but increasingly isolated.
Since the closure of air and rail links with the EU, the coach has indeed become the only means of public transport with the rest of Europe, in particular with Poland, which has become the refuge of thousands of Belarusians who have fled the repression.
Lioudmila does not complain, even ensures to see the positive aspect of things. But she still prefers to preserve her anonymity, given the political situation in Belarus.
“I look at the countryside. I like it, we can relax,” she smiles.
If the old lady has time to admire the landscape, it is because Westerners have banned travel by plane to their countries from Belarus and via its airspace after the interception in 2021 of a device which carried out the Athens-Vilnius flight by the air force to arrest an opponent who was on board.
Rail links have been interrupted since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Belarusians can also no longer pass through Moscow to join the EU, because the latter has closed its space to planes from Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The bus, “the journey is long and the legs go numb”, says Piotr Sadko, who is going to Germany with his wife to see their daughter there.
“Naturally, if there was no political conflict, everything would be wonderful,” he adds.
Ilia, who is traveling with his girlfriend for the first time in the European Union, agrees.
The couple saw many friends leave Belarus after the 2020 protests and are going to Poland to get a one-year visa.
Cautious, this man and this woman avoid mentioning the question of repression in their country and the war in Ukraine but recognize the impact of the conflict on their lives.
“The situation in the world has changed after the events of 2022,” they note, adding that their plans for visits to Europe had “collapsed” with the protests two years ago.
“A friend of ours is waiting for us in Warsaw. He told us: Guys, everything is ready, come and let’s have dinner!” Ilia rejoices.
In 2020, the Poles made it easier to obtain visas for Belarusians working in new technologies, a sector once simmering in Belarus.
As a result, Poland hosts more Belarusian political refugees than any other country in the world and currently has 80,000 Belarusians on its territory, three times as many as before the summer protests began that year.
“You have to understand that most Belarusians did not leave their homeland, family and home of their own free will,” says Elena, a 49-year-old Belarusian who fled her country in 2021 with a relative who was in the country. secret service sights.
Because there, critics of the regime “risk prison for their ideas”, she recalls, preferring to remain anonymous, because she goes to Belarus several times a year to see her daughter and carry out administrative procedures. .
But the future of the road link with the EU is far from certain.
At the end of June, Belarus opened its territory to fighters from the paramilitary group Wagner after their aborted mutiny in Russia. And Mr. Lukashenko has multiplied bellicose statements addressed to Warsaw.
In return, Poland threatened to lock the border in case of incidents with Wagner.
“If it is completely closed, life will become very, very difficult for Belarusians,” predicts Elena.
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08/08/2023 05:46:31 – Brest (Belarus) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
