Migration crisis: Vladimir Putin calls on the EU to re-establish contact with Belarus

Published on : 11/11/2021 – 19:28

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Europe, Thursday, November 11, to resume dialogue with his protégé, Alexander Lukashenko, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis with the European Union. Brussels accuses the leader of Belarus of orchestrating a large-scale migratory movement on the border with Poland.

A few thousand migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are stranded in difficult conditions at the border between Belarus and Poland. This situation will be the subject of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday.

The European Union accuses Minsk of having organized this migratory crisis, by issuing visas and chartering flights, in revenge for Western sanctions imposed on the regime of Alexander Lukashenko last year, after the brutal repression of opponents.

In a telephone interview with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the second in two days, Vladimir Putin said that the resolution of this “serious migratory crisis” required “the reestablishment of contacts between the countries of the EU and the Belarus “, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Gas threat

But, at the end of patience, Berlin judged that it was “high time to draw the consequences” of this crisis by strengthening the sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. Measures are expected early next week, according to Brussels.

With Russian support, Alexander Lukashenko threatened, Thursday, to respond to possible sanctions by shutting off the valves of a major gas pipeline supplying Europe, at a time when the continent is already facing shortages. “What would happen if we cut the natural gas going there?” He said.

But in an exclusive interview with AFP, his main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who lives in exile, said the leader was “bluffing”, calling on the EU not to engage in dialogue with this “illegitimate” leader.

Ten migrants dead at the border

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who accused Lukashenko’s regime of “state terrorism”, said his country was the target of a “new kind of war” with civilians used as “ammunition” in transporting migrants to the EU border.

Warsaw further claims that Belarusian security forces are firing shots into the air to force migrants to advance. Minsk argues, in return, that Polish border guards violate international standards by pushing them back with violence.

Fearing to be drawn into the crisis, Ukraine, a neighboring country of Belarus, announced on Thursday the deployment of 8,500 additional soldiers at the border.

Caught between Poland and Belarus, many migrants, including children and women, are stuck in the wooded border area.

This is the case of 2,000 people, including Kurds, who have been stranded for several days in a makeshift camp, where they warm themselves by burning wood to withstand temperatures close to 0 ° C. “Emergency humanitarian aid”, especially blankets, warm clothes and diapers, was delivered to them on Thursday, said a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, ten migrants have died in the border area since the start of this crisis.

With AFP