Lukashenko denies Belarusian armed group infiltrated Latvia, calls it EU funding pretext

Belarusian President Lukashenko publicly denied Latvian claims of an armed group crossing from Belarus into Latvia, alleging the incident was fabricated by Latvia to secure EU funding. The denial escalates a diplomatic dispute over border security and migration, with no independent corroboration of either version. This matters as it could strain Belarus-EU relations and affect EU border security funding decisions.