Europeans are alarmed by the migration crisis orchestrated by Belarus – archyde

Serious concern reigned in Brussels, Thursday 11 November, faced with the deterioration of the situation on the border with Belarus, where at least 2,000 migrants are trapped by the dictatorial regime in Minsk. They live there in dramatic conditions, in the hope of joining the territory of the European Union (EU) through Poland, but also through Lithuania and Latvia.

In retaliation for the European sanctions established against the repression carried out in the country, Minsk orchestrates these arrivals on its soil of Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Lebanese. What is described as “A hybrid attack” against the Union, with migration as a weapon, could now lead to a military escalation, fear some leaders. “The risk is very high”, Judge thus, Wednesday 10 November, the Estonian Minister of Defense, Kalle Laanet. His country raised, with France and Ireland, the subject at the UN, Thursday evening, during a closed meeting of the Security Council. At its end, the European and American members of the Council condemned in a joint declaration a “Orchestrated instrumentalization of human beings” by Belarus in order to “Destabilize the external border of the European Union”.

In the immediate future, the EU is preparing a new set of sanctions, the fifth, against Belarus. It should be ratified on Monday, November 15 by the foreign ministers. Then the defense ministers will also discuss as a priority this issue, which “Is not a war but a serious crisis, an attempt to militarize the issue of migration”, explained, Wednesday, to MEPs, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell.

An “inhuman” instrumentalisation

“They keep threatening us (…). What if we cut off natural gas? “ Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko replied Thursday in remarks reported by the official Belta news agency. Some 35% of Russian gas consumed in Europe passes through the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which serves Poland, Germany and other countries. The threat was, however, not taken seriously by Brussels, which invoked international obligations that were difficult to circumvent. Later Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei apparently tried to calm things down by saying that his country was “Favorable to a resolution of the crisis as soon as possible”.

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