Vatslau Areshka: Night Wolves ride is Putin's aggressive provocation

There's no place for Putin's bikers in the EU.

Vatslau Areshka, a culturologist and member of the organising committee of the Belarusian Movement party, said it to charter97.org.

“This is Russia's clear aggressive provocation against Europe and all normal people. Official Belarus did not only allow them to go through the country, but also received them at a high level, which again confirms the fact that Lukashenka is Putin's sycophant. However much he demonstrates his independence to Europe, Belarus remains in the context of the Russian politics, Russian ideology and the 'Russian world'. And this is very sad.

I hope they won't be allowed entry into the EU. The ride of Putin's bikers is a very unpleasant thing for all civilised and free people. It is a negative trend that Belarus is being dragged deeper into the 'Russian world' due to the authorities. Belarusians should remember about it and stay vigilant,” he noted.

Members of Putin-backed motorcycle club Night Wolves announced a ride from Moscow to Berlin through Minsk, Brest, Wroclaw, Brno, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Munich and other European cities from April 25 to May 9 on the 70th anniversary of the victory of fascism. The club's leader Alexander Zaldostanov, who initiated the Antimaidan movement, is banned entry into the EU.

The plans of Russian bikers provoked a negative reaction in the countries they are going to visit. There were reports from Germany and Poland that people were against the ride of Putin's bikers through their countries. Belarusian bikers refused to join the Russian motorcycle gang.

On April 24, the Polish MFA sent a note to Russia's Embassy in Warsaw, in which it denied entry into Poland to a group of Russian bikers, according to Internet sources.

The Russian bikers were welcomed at the weekend by officials from Lukashenka's administration, which caused a negative reaction of Belarusian Internet users. Poland denied entry into the EU to the bikers and NTV journalists. They held a press conference in the Russian embassy in Brest and said they planned to cross the border again, this time in a group of 100 people. They plan to arrive in Berlin in two days.