NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at the Foreign Affairs Council, expressed concern that the Lukashenko regime was using “vulnerable migrants as a hybrid tactic against other countries”. “On the issue of the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland, but also on the border with two other NATO allies, Lithuania and Latvia, we are […]
Tag: Belarus
DW: Trapped on the Belarus-Poland border
Thousands of migrants are hiding on the Polish side of the border, talking about deportations, violence and the cold. DW report from the border area. Youssef Atala is originally from Damascus. He has now taken refuge in an unknown location near the Polish-Belarusian border. He was taken there by humanitarian organizations, which do not publish […]
Towards a new Merkel-Lukashenko telephone conversation on the immigration crisis
Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said he will hold a second telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid efforts to end Belarus’ immigration crisis with the EU, state news agency Belta reported. According to Lukashenko, after the first telephone conversation they had yesterday, Monday, Merkel discussed with other EU countries a Minsk proposal for […]
The contradictions of European policy towards Belarus
By Costas Raptis The fifth package of sanctions against Belarus, with the prospect of adoption and the sixth, approved yesterday by the “27”, against the background of the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, is a revelation of the contradictions of the “eastern policy” of the EU. Contradictions arising mainly from the fact that Russia is […]
Kremlin: Putin, Lukashenko discuss gas flows to Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have discussed the flow of Russian gas to Europe via Belarus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agency Novosti. Peshkov said that the discussion took place yesterday Sunday, but did not give further details about the communication between the two […]
Poland: Immigrants gather at an outpost on the border with Belarus
LAST UPDATE: 14.25 Crowds of migrants gathered at a closed outpost on the border between Poland and Belarus, according to video footage released by the border guards and the Polish army. “More and more groups of migrants are being sent to the Kuznitsa border post by Belarusian forces,” the defense ministry said on Twitter. Videos […]
The cube has been rolled: The EU-27 is expanding the scope of sanctions against Belarus
The EU is expanding the scope of sanctions against the Belarussian authorities to deal with hybrid attacks and the instrumentalization of migrants, according to a Council statement. The communiqué states that the Council today amended the sanctions regime in view of the situation on the EU – Belarus border, in order to be able to […]
Russia: It’s wrong to put all the blame on Lukashenko
The Kremlin announced today that Russia is ready to mediate in the migration crisis that has erupted between Belarus and the EU, stressing that Moscow is already doing so to some extent. The EU accuses Belarus of launching a “hybrid attack” on it by airlifting thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, and pushing […]
Lukashenko: Belarus is working to repatriate migrants
Belarus is working “actively” to repatriate migrants who have set up makeshift camps on the country’s border with the EU, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said today, but stressed that they did not want to leave. “We are ready, as we always have been, to put them all on planes (…) which will take them home,” […]
Borrell: EU foreign ministers will consider a new package of sanctions against Belarus today
EU foreign ministers will consider a new package of sanctions against Belarus today in connection with the smuggling of migrants across the EU border, European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said today as he arrived in the Brussels Council. Mr Borrell said the sanctions being considered were effective because they would target individuals, namely their […]