Łukašenka calls on university graduates to stay in Belarus

June 29, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka has called on university graduates to stay in Belarus, his press office reported.

Speaking at the national graduation ball event in Minsk on June 28, he said that graduates are well aware of what they want to achieve. “But remember one thing: do it on home soil,” he said.

He added that it will be “very hard, but I am sure that you will cope with it.”

You should first try your hand in Belarus, and “jump over there” only if it doesn’t go well, he said: “You will have something to compare with.”

In October 2020, the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that 13,000 citizens left Belarus for Poland and Ukraine in the past two months.

In November 2021, Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s Office told Belsat TV that it had no information on exactly how many Belarusians left the country.

Lawyers from the Belarusian democratic leader’s office said it was impossible to find out the exact number, since there was no official count, and indirect information couldn’t help paint an objective picture.

According to Naša Niva, about 650,000 Schengen visas were issued to Belarusians from September 2020 to May 2022.

Poland alone issued about 35,000 humanitarian visas, and 40,000 Belarusians received visas under the Polish Business Harbor program, an unnamed Polish diplomat said.