Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Tuesday (November 9) that the European Union can provide Belarus with financial assistance to encourage it to prevent immigrants from entering the European Union.
Thousands of migrants gathered in Belarus near the Polish border. Some of them used shovels to try to break the border fence, escalating the months-long crisis and prompting Western calls for stricter sanctions against Minsk.
Poland and the European Union accused Belarus of planning a wave of immigration to destabilize its neighbors. But Lavrov said the EU must be consistent in its treatment of third countries used by immigrants.
He mentioned a 2016 EU funding agreement that promised to take back migrants and refugees who crossed the Aegean Sea and entered Greece illegally.
Lavrov stated that the EU can do the same with Belarus.
Lavrov said that countries where refugees enter the European Union “should be treated the same.”
“Yesterday in some political experts’ discussions, someone said: Why does the European Union provide funds to keep refugees in the Republic of Turkey when they come from Turkey? Why can’t they help Belarusians in the same way?” Lavrov said.
It is not clear what political discussions Lavrov is referring to.
Lavrov made the above comments at a press conference held in Moscow with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Vatican.
Russian media quoted Gallagher as saying that he called on European authorities to take action to resolve the humanitarian crisis caused by the immigration deadlock.
The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday that it was concerned about the incident on the Belarusian-Polish border and praised the responsible work done by experts from Belarus, its close ally.
In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Minsk are in close contact on the matter and called on all parties to take responsible actions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the immigration crisis with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over the phone on Tuesday. Berta The news agency reported that the two leaders expressed concern about the Polish army gathered there.
The Belarusian Foreign Minister is scheduled to hold talks with the Russian Foreign Minister in Moscow later on Tuesday.
