Angela Merkel has asked Vladimir Putin to intervene Belarus-Poland border crisis Call on the main foreign sponsors in Minsk because the EU is preparing to impose new sanctions on Belarus.
On the phone, the German Chancellor talked about the crisis that had escalated sharply since Monday, when 1,000 people, mainly from Iraqi Kurdistan, arrived at the border. The German Chancellor told Putin, “The use of immigration by the Belarusian regime is inhumane and unacceptable, and asked [Putin] In order to influence the Minsk regime,” Prime Minister’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said he described the situation as “state-sanctioned human trafficking”.
The conversation took place hours after the Polish prime minister accused the Russian president of “planning” the surge in numbers and emphasizing the role of regional alliances in the deadlock and subsequent humanitarian crisis. Thousands of people were in the forest on the border. After night fell, the temperature there dropped below zero.
Russia denies any involvement and accuses EuropeThe Kremlin read the content of the phone call with Merkel, saying that Putin “proposed [current] The issue of direct contact between representatives of EU member states and Minsk”. It did not mention Merkel’s request for Putin to intervene or promise Russia to take any action to end the crisis.
But Moscow sent a strong message of support to Minsk on Wednesday because it sent two nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers on patrol missions over Belarus. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the rare deployment of strategic bombers was a preparatory inspection of the joint Russian-Belarusian air defense network.
Poland and neighbouring Lithuania have declared a state of emergency on their borders with Belarus. The authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of transporting asylum seekers from the Middle East to the EU border in retaliation for EU criticism. Suppress the opposition.
After EU diplomats met in Brussels on Wednesday, about 30 individuals and entities faced sanctions, most likely including Belavia’s national airline Belavia and travel agencies. A complete list of targets is expected to be finalized this weekend, then confirmed on Monday and effective next month.
Since the president began to suppress the opposition to stay in power after the controversial election last August, the European Union has imposed sanctions on 166 individuals connected to the Belarusian regime, including Lukashenko and his son. Forcing a Ryanair flight to landt To arrest dissidents.
The option of including Turkish Airlines and Aeroflot in the sanctions regime was discussed to bring people from the Middle East into Belarus, but the source downplayed the possibility of making a decision that would expand the scope of the crisis.
On Monday, more than 1,000 people (many of whom were from Iraqi Kurdistan) arrived at the Polish border, pushing the crisis to a climax, and the European Union accused Belarus of launching a “hybrid attack.” The Polish Border Guard said on Wednesday that two groups of dozens of people broke into the border overnight. They said they were arrested and deported. Lithuanian border guards said they blocked 281 illegal border crossing attempts on Tuesday.
During a visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, European Council President Charles Michel stated that Belarus’s actions were unacceptable. “Possible sanctions are already on the table… We want to ensure coordination with all member states to make the best choice and determine what is the most effective tool. It must stop, this mixed attack against the EU ,”He said.
Poland’s allegations against Russia are the most direct allegations in the crisis in which the Kremlin did not play a direct role. It occurred during a special session of the parliament on Tuesday. The prime minister called Putin a “facilitator” for Lukashenko.
“The mastermind of the attack that Lukashenko is doing is in Moscow. The mastermind is President Putin,” Mateus Morawiecki said in the lower house of the Polish House of Commons, which is dominated by the right-wing Law and Justice Party. .
Moravitsky stated that Putin is determined to “rebuild the Russian Empire” and called the border crisis “a new type of war in which people are used as living shields.”
As the European Union pushes Minsk further into isolation, Moscow has become an increasingly important ally of Belarus over the past year.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Western countries, including EU member states and NATO, are the “roots” of the crisis. He said: “They are promoting a better Western-style life and democracy in the way the West explains,” he was referring to the US-led intervention and the so-called Western support for the Arab Spring.
The Belarusian travel agency is accused of issuing visas to bring hundreds of people from Iraq, Syria and other countries to Minsk, then travel westward from there to try to cross the border, and then transfer from Poland to Minsk. GermanyMany airlines are either Belarusian Airlines or are based in the Middle East.
When asked whether Germany would accept immigrants unilaterally, Merkel’s spokesperson said that the issue was “not relevant.”The spokesperson of the German Ministry of Interior stated that if Belarus does not provide humanitarian assistance, then European Union This needs to be done, not just a Member State.
Additional report by Philip Altman
