Germany calls on EU to help stop influx of migrants from Belarus – SME.sk

BERLIN. Germany called on the European Union on Tuesday to take steps to stop the influx of migrants illegally crossing the Polish-Belarusian border. The AFP agency informed about it.

“Neither Poland nor Germany can do it alone,” German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the newspaper Picture. He called on the European Union to “stick together”.

“We must help the government in Warsaw to secure Poland’s state borders from the outside. This should actually be the task of the European Commission. I call on it to take action,” he said.

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They stopped hundreds of migrants

His call came after Poland announced that it had stopped hundreds of migrants trying to cross the border. Warsaw has warned that there are thousands more on the way from crisis regions such as Afghanistan and Syria, and warned that immigrants could use firearms in similar attempts to cross the border in the future.

Seehofer added that he supported Warsaw’s decision to build a wall on the border with Belarus to prevent the illegal passage of migrants.

“We cannot criticize them … for protecting the EU’s external borders,” he said, adding that, of course, he meant protecting the borders by available means other than weapons.

Lukashenko denies the allegations

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia and the EU blame the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkothat it brings in migrants from the Middle East and Africa and then transfers them across the border to the EU in an effort to destabilize the Euroblock in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by Brussels on Minsk. Lukashenko denies the allegations.

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President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called on EU member states on Monday to impose new sanctions on Minsk over the crisis in immigrants.

“Using migrants for political purposes is unacceptable,” she said. She added that the EU would also look at how to impose sanctions on “third-country airlines” that transport migrants to Belarus.

In October, the number of immigrants arriving from Belarus via Poland to Germany reached almost 5,000. Berlin therefore strengthened border controls and deployed more police officers to the area.

According to Stephan Mayer, Secretary of the Interior, Germany is ready to offer Poland the support of its police forces. “Germany could send police forces to help Poland very quickly, if Poland so wishes,” Mayer told Bild.

The pressure threatens the security of the Union

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday that an unprecedented influx of migrants crossing the border illegally with Belarus threatened the security of the entire European Union. The AFP agency informed about it.

“Closing the Polish border is in our national interest. But today it is about the stability and security of the whole EU,” Morawiecki wrote on Twitter.

“This hybrid attack by the regime (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko is targeting all of us. We will not be intimidated and, together with our NATO and EU partners, we will defend peace in Europe,” he said.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday rejected the accusations of Warsaw, which claims that Minsk is coordinating a wave of migrants trying to get to Poland.

“The Belarusian Ministry of Defense considers the accusations of the Polish side to be unfounded and unfounded,” his representatives said in a statement. Minsk accused Warsaw of “deliberately” escalating tensions.

Due to the tense situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, the Kužnica border crossing closed on Tuesday morning from 7.00 am, a spokeswoman for the Polish border guard confirmed to the DPA agency.

Poland urged passengers to use the Terespol and Bobrowniki crossings. On Monday, Polish authorities reported that groups of hundreds of migrants on the Belarusian side near the village of Kuzhnica had tried unsuccessfully to cross the barbed-wire-protected border.

NATO on Monday accused the government in Minsk of using migrants for political purposes, and the European Union called for new sanctions against Belarus.

The Union has suspended simplified visas

The Council of the European Union suspended the application of the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Belarus on Tuesday. It reported on its official website that it had taken such a decision in response to an ongoing “hybrid attack” on the EU by the Belarusian regime.

The EU accuses the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately sending migrants – from the Middle East, Afghanistan or Africa – to the Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian borders to provoke chaos and disputes in the Union.

The EU Council said on Tuesday that the suspension of the agreement would make the visa process more difficult for representatives of the Belarusian regime, but not for ordinary citizens of Belarus.

They will be able to continue to benefit from the agreement.

The EU-Belarus visa facilitation agreement entered into force on 1 July 2020 in parallel with the EU-Belarus readmission agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to facilitate the issuance of short-stay visas, thus contributing to the strengthening of people-to-people contacts and the strengthening of common values.

Following the political turmoil in Belarus and restrictive EU measures, Belarus began organizing flights and internal transfers in June 2021 to facilitate the transit of migrants to the EU, first to Lithuania and later to Latvia and Poland.

Belarus announced on June 28 that it would suspend the readmission agreement with the EU.

The actions of the Belarusian regime run counter to the basic principles on the basis of which the visa facilitation agreement was concluded and run counter to the EU’s interests, the EU Council states on its website.