Belarus, migrant crisis after Putin-Lukashenko contact

The escalation of the migrant crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland began on Monday, a few days after a new contact, the seventh since the beginning of the year, between Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Lukashenko who, last week, remotely co-chaired the Supreme Council of State of the Union between Russia and Belarus and signed the new joint military doctrine, the new concept for migration policies and a road map of 28 points for further integration between the two countries. The long dormant integration put in place at the end of the 1990s accelerated after the protests that weakened Lukhashenko in Belarus following his disputed re-election in August 2019. After the military exercises that every four years Russia and Belarus organize in September close to the NATO countries, today the Belarusian air command coordinated the flight of two Russian strategic bombers Tu-22M3 over the skies of Belarus to test the regional integrated air defense system between the two countries. After the last meeting with Putin, Lukashenko anticipated the strengthening of military groupings. A double signal, that of migrants and warplanes, to indicate that, on the front of the Union between Russia and Belarus, the so-called united state seems to be moving. “Lukashenko, no doubt with Putin’s support, used the migrant issue to punish the EU for imposing sanctions against its discredited regime. Minsk and Moscow know that one of the EU’s main vulnerabilities is its gut reaction to migrants, “wrote Judy Dempsey in an article published today by Carnegie Europe. “It is important to create a situation of stability and security” at the external borders of the Union, a concept already present in the 1999 treaty for the promotion of greater integration between Russia and Belarus. “We intend to jointly resist any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of our sovereign countries and Russia will continue to provide assistance to the brother people of Belarus,” Putin said after meeting with Lukashenko last week. To achieve full economic integration, it is necessary to ensure the free mobility of people and to consider together the security risks in the region. “The unification of our military forces at the regional level is a security shield not only for our countries but also for the entire geography of the former Soviet region”. The Kremlin today expresses “concern” about the situation of migrants on the border between Belarus and Poland. “The situation remains extremely tense, moreover, tensions are growing. We are very worried. We understand the complexity of the situation, but here, of course, we believe that the de facto problem is with the people. Several thousand refugees do not want to stay in Belarus and seek asylum in European countries, “spokesman Dmitry Peskov said before German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Putin to solicit his intervention, with his ally Lukashenko, to resolve the” inhuman and unacceptable “border crisis. Commenting on the statements by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who accused Russia of having responsibility in the crisis, Peskov said, in turn, that it is “a completely irresponsible and unacceptable statement”. Yet, according to Warsaw, Moscow is one of the air hubs through which migrants go to Belarus, an artificial traffic that originates in Turkey, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. Russia and Belarus, the Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said after seeing his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today, are working together to develop a joint reaction to sanctions and political pressure from Western countries. “In the face of increasing pressure from sanctions against our countries, we aim at consolidated work and mutual support with the Russians, including a joint reaction to hostile activities against our countries”, added Makei, specifying that Moscow and Minsk “effectively coordinate their positions on foreign policy issues, both at regional and global level”.