President Belarusse Alexander Loukachenko stated that his country would meet any new European sanction related to the migrant crisis, including the possibility of suspending the functioning of a gas pipeline that crosses Belarus and delivers Russian gas, vital to Europeans.
Le Monde with AFP
The iron arm continues between Belarus and the European Union (EU). President Belarusse Alexander Loukachenko said on Thursday, November 11 that his country would meet any new European sanction related to the border migrant crisis, which Brussels imputes to Minsk.
“If they impose new sanctions (…), we must answer,” he said, quoted by the Belta Public Press Agency, evoking the possibility of suspending the operation of a pipeline which crosses Belarus and book of Russian gas, vital to Europeans.
The head of the Belarusian diplomacy also said refusing to discuss the current crisis at the border, where a few thousand migrants are trapped. In an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, Vladimir Makei said the EU had cut its financing in 2020 in Minsk to strengthen its border infrastructure and build reception venues for migrants. In response, Minsk has ceased to respect an agreement with Brussels for the readmission of migrants illegally entered into the EU from its territory.
“IRFERFIC POLITICS”
“We proposed to the EU to consult on this subject, but we have wiped a refusal. Since then we have proposed many times to start a dialogue on this problem, but have not received any Positive answer, “said Makei. He also stated that the current migration crisis was the result “of the unthinking policy” of Brussels which, according to him, “invited refugees and declared that she was ready to welcome them”.
The minister also assured that Minsk was in favor of a settlement of this crisis “as soon as possible”. Since Monday, attempts to pass through Poland from Belarus from hundreds of migrants, originally from the Middle East, have triggered a serious crisis.
Warsaw deployed 15,000 soldiers in the area, in addition to police officers and border guards. Europeans accuse the Belarusian President Alexandre Loukachenko, to knowingly orchestrated this situation by issuing visa for migrants and forwarding them to the border to revenge the European sanctions.
Since the implacable repression of an opposition movement in 2020, Belarus is subject to heavy Western penalties that pushed it to get closer to Moscow.