Faced with new European sanctions, Belarus says it is ready to return migrants – archyde

In the standoff with the European Union (EU), Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko seems to be playing the card of appeasement. He says Belarus is trying to bring home migrants camping on the border between his country and the European Union.

“We are ready, as we have always done, to put them all on planes (…) who will bring them home “, he said, according to Belta state agency, Monday November 15. “Active work is underway to convince these people, ‘please come home’, but no one wants to come back”, he added.

“I want to stress this, we don’t want any conflict at our border. It would be absolutely damaging for us ”, also declared Mr. Lukashenko, still according to Belta, accusing in parallel Poland “To need” of this crisis because of its “Internal problems” and tensions with its EU partners.

Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been camping for several days on the border between Poland and Belarus, in freezing temperatures, and the EU accuses Minsk of having organized these migratory movements, by issuing visas and by chartering flights, in revenge for the Western sanctions imposed on the regime of Alexander Lukashenko last year after the brutal repression of opponents.

The Kremlin was also keen to support Belarus: “To throw all the responsibility on Lukashenko, on the Belarusian side, it is completely wrong”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters lamenting that the EU “Ignore the European ideals of humanism” as thousands of migrants are stranded in the cold in makeshift tents on the border with Poland.

Flight ban from Dubai

In this context, Belarusian airline Belavia announced on Sunday that Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and Yemenis were now banned from flying from Dubai to Belarus. “In accordance with the decision of the competent authorities of the United Arab Emirates, citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria will not be allowed from November 14, 2021 on board flights from Dubai to the Belarus’, specified Belavia in a press release.

“These people, it must be said, are stubborn”, then tempered Mr. Lukashenko, “ they don’t want to go home. It is clear that they no longer have a place to return, no more home, and have nothing to feed their children there ”. Minsk is also ready to evacuate the migrants to Germany, if this country welcomes them, the Belarusian president evoking a proposal in this direction, emanating according to him from the municipal authorities of Munich.

Following pressure from European diplomats, Turkey banned Iraqis, Syrians and Yemenis from visiting Belarus. The private Syrian company Cham Wings Airlines has also stopped its flights to Minsk.

Tightening of European sanctions

The European Union, which sanctioned the repression of the demonstrations following the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020, now accuses him of promoting for several months a migratory crisis in retaliation. The EU now intends to widen its sanctions against Belarus by targeting airlines, travel agencies and the various actors involved in the transfer of migrants, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, confirmed on Monday.

On his arrival at the Council bringing together the Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-Seven on Monday morning in Brussels, the head of European diplomacy said he had contacted the Belarusian foreign minister on Sunday to inform him that the situation on the border with Poland was “Totally unacceptable”.

Heiko Maas, the head of German diplomacy, announced that the EU would “Toughen the sanctions” against Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander “Lukashenko demands that we remove all sanctions. We will give our answer today: we will further tighten the sanctions ”, did he declare. He mentioned in particular “More severity” against people involved in migrant smuggling, also considering that “Severe economic sanctions are inevitable”. “We will continue on this path of severity because there is no reasonable alternative”, he added.