Katsiaryna Shmatsina, a political scientist at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, says: “Belarusians are concerned that Angela Merkel’s communication with Lukashenko might only serve to legitimize the dictator.”

 

 

Christoph von Marschall, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent with the Berlin daily, Tagesspiegel. And Christoph believes that: "At the EU border with Belarus, Europe finally seems to prevail against the dictators Putin and Lukashenko – thanks to determination and unity." 

 

Alexandra von Nahmen, the head of DW’s Brussels studio, who argues: “Autocrats know the EU‘s weaknesses and how to exploit them. To stop that, the bloc needs to fundamentally reform its migration policy.”