President of Belarus threatens to let thousands of illegal migrants, drugs, into western Europe

Belarussian President Alexandr Lukashenko has threatened that unless the Czech Republic grants him an entry visa, enabling him to take part in the NATO summit to be held in Prague next week, Belarus will cease guarding its borders, allowing thousands of illegal migrants into western Europe; the move would also open the way for drug smuggling, Mr Lukashenko warned. So far, there has been no Czech response. The Czech Foreign Ministry has not yet decided whether to grant the Belarussian president an entry visa, along with members of a Belarussian delegation that also applied last month; each case is decided individually and a decision on Lukashenko might not come until early next week. NATO officials have already made clear the Belarussian president is not welcome at the NATO summit because of both his autocratic style and his opposition to NATO in the past.