The EU condemns the EU presidency Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (Alexander Lukashenko) acted like a “gangster” amid the worsening humanitarian crisis on the country’s border with Poland.
The Belarusian government is accused of sending refugees to the external borders of the European Union in an attempt to punish the group because the group criticized Lukashenko for suppressing dissidents at home.
Hundreds of people continued to travel on Tuesday as the Polish government announced that 3,000 to 4,000 people had settled in a temporary camp on the border opposite its village of Kuźnica.
On Tuesday, the 27 EU member states agreed to suspend the EU-Belarus visa facilitation agreement, which was the first reaction to the evolving situation, as Slovenia, the EU’s rotating presidency, condemned Minsk for “playing with people’s lives for political purposes”.
A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that it is unacceptable for the Lukashenko government to treat the people as political pawns. “This is part of the inhumane and genuine gang-style practices of the Lukashenko regime. He lied to people. He was abusing the people, misleading them, and bringing them to Belarus with false promises of easy access to the EU,” the spokesperson said.
Poland has sent about 11,000 soldiers to the border area, established a two-mile-deep military zone, built barbed wire, and approved the construction of the border wall. It also implemented a state of emergency in the area and completed a media blackout.
The Lithuanian parliament voted on Tuesday to implement a state of emergency on its border with Belarus and in detention camps in the capital and elsewhere, where migrants have tried to cross the border. The decision will give the Lithuanian police additional powers to expel asylum seekers and restrict travel and public gatherings near the border.
According to a report by the Belarusian state news agency Berta on Tuesday, Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed their concerns over the build-up of Polish troops on the border by telephone on Monday.
Lukashenko said: “Go to war with these unfortunate people on the border between Poland and Belarus and let the tanks line up-obviously, this is either a training or extortion.” “We will face this calmly. a little.”
In a vague but possibly empty threat, he added that Russia may be forced to intervene. “We are not bullying…because we know that if God bless, we made some mistakes, if we fall, it will immediately drag Russia into this vortex, and this is the largest nuclear power,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Sergei Lavrov) suggested that the EU provide financial assistance to Belarus to prevent the influx of refugees, and referred to the earlier agreement with Turkey.
Brussels said it is negotiating with 13 countries, which may be the source of Belarus’s dispatch of personnel to the EU’s external borders. They are Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Georgia, Guinea, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey.
According to reports, Minsk has issued special visas that allow people to fly to Belarus from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said: “The Belarusian regime is attacking the Polish border, the European Union, in an unprecedented way. We currently have an immigration camp and they are blocked by Belarus.
“These are acts of aggression that we must resist and fulfill our obligations as a member of the European Union. European Union. “
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stated that EU countries must stand together in the face of the “mixed threat” posed by “politically organized immigration”.
“So far, the Polish reaction has been correct,” Seehofer told the German Bild when talking about Poland’s strengthening of the border. “We cannot criticize them for protecting the EU’s external borders in an acceptable way. Poles are providing very important services to the whole of Europe.”
After the Belarusian authorities took action, Polish police prevented hundreds of people from entering the country on Monday. Escort them to the border.
A spokesperson for the Polish government stated that as more and more people gather, the Polish government is ready to respond to further incidents. “We expect that such operations on the Polish border may escalate in the near future, which will be armed in nature,” he said.
On Monday night, hundreds of people spent time in tents at the border camp. As the temperature dropped below freezing, they collected firewood and lit a bonfire.
The Kuźnica border crossing in Poland was closed early on Tuesday. The police monitored the area through night vision and thermal imaging and reported that a large number of Belarusian troops approached the camp.
During Monday’s clash, video footage appeared to show a Polish armed officer spraying chemicals on a man trying to cut the barbed wire border fence. Others tried to clear the fence by climbing long wooden poles or branches. While the helicopter was hovering in the sky, the Polish police were hit by objects thrown from the Belarusian side.
Gunshots can be heard in several videos posted online on Monday night.
Many people seeking to enter Poland are desperately fleeing war and impoverished countries in the Middle East. Most people want to reach Germany. Germany stated that it has received more than 6,100 refugees from Belarus through Poland since the beginning of this year.
As a member of the European Union and NATO, Poland has been severely criticized in recent years for its tough remarks on immigration. The latest comments by Seehofer, Von der Leyen and others indicate that the right-wing government in the country has softened.
Since the Polish police were authorized to deport immigrants immediately and ignore asylum applications in October last year, those trying to enter the European Union from Belarus have been trapped between the two countries. The Belarusian border guard refused to let them return.
Belarus denies any help in guiding the movement of people. The Belarusian Border Guard said in a statement: “The indifference and inhumane attitude of the Polish authorities prompted the refugees to take such desperate steps.”
