On the occasion of a telephone interview with Angela Merkel, Monday, President Belorusse said wanted to return “at home” migrants massed at the border with Poland.
Alexandre Lukashenko, the dictator Belarusian, spoke over the fifty few minutes with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, brought back Monday, November 15 to the evening, the Figure Belta news agency. The two leaders have, according to a spokesman of the German Government, mentioned “the difficult situation” on the Polish border, where by 2,000 to 3,000 migrants and refugees who came mainly from the Middle East, instrumentalized by the Minsk authorities, are trying to In vain, for days, penetrating the territory of the European Union (EU). Chancellor and the President would also have talked about humanitarian aid to these people, of whom at least eight have already deceased.
This is the first time Mr. Lukashenko conversed with a European manager since the beginning of the migratory crisis and, beyond, since the summer of 2020, when he triggered a violent repression following his re-election contested, that no EU country has recognized. Monday always, the President, accused of organizing a vast movement of migrants (from 20,000 to 30,000 of them would have landed in Minsk) to revenge the European sanctions against him and his country, said he wanted to ensure the return of these people “at home”. An “active work” would be in progress to try to convince them. Most of them, however, refuse the option of a return.
New blow of bluffing or real turnover of the Belarusian leader? Meeting in Brussels, the foreign ministers of the twenty-seven, in any case, held their program, noting in passing that Mr. Lukashenko always promised them “retaliation” and judged “absurd” their accusations. The new sanctions, based on a new criterion – the instrumentalization of migration to make it a “hybrid” attack tool – will be specified and announced in the coming days. They will target natural and legal persons.
According to Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, these restrictive measures will also concern airlines and operators of the Belarusian tourism sector, as well as the Near East travel agencies. After Turkey, the United Arab Emirates authorities indicated on Monday that their companies would no longer embark on Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans or Yemenites to Minsk.
“Europe is not helpless. “
“This is the sign that Europe is not helpless and its threats of sanctions have borne,” Updes Pawel Zerka, researcher at Think Tank European Council on Foreign Relationships. This specialist invites, however, to vigilance: “even if things end up calming Europe will not be safe while the dictator Loukachenko, who plays his survival, will remain in place. It will have to increase economic sanctions.”
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