(United Nations) The Westerners condemned Thursday at the UN an “orchestrated instrumentalisation of human beings” by Belarus on the border with Poland in order to “destabilize the external border of the European Union”, and called for a ” strong international reaction ”despite the earlier call for dialogue by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A few thousand migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are stranded in difficult conditions at the border between Belarus and Poland. The Europeans accuse Minsk of fueling the crisis by issuing visas and chartering flights in revenge for Western sanctions imposed on the Lukashenko regime last year after the brutal crackdown on opponents.
In a joint statement issued after an emergency meeting of the Security Council, Estonia, France, Ireland, the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom estimated Thursday evening that the Belarus’ goal was also “to destabilize neighboring countries” and “to distract from its own growing human rights violations”.
“This tactic is unacceptable and calls for a strong international reaction and cooperation in order to hold Belarus to account”, stressed the signatories, without however mentioning concrete measures.
Earlier, during a telephone interview with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the second in two days, Vladimir Putin had estimated that the resolution of this “serious migratory crisis” required “the reestablishment of contacts between the countries of the EU and Belarus ”, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
But, at the end of patience, Berlin judged Thursday that it was “high time to draw the consequences” of this crisis by strengthening the sanctions against the regime of Mr. Lukashenko. Measures are expected early next week, according to Brussels.
Gas threat
On the strength of Russian support, Lukashenko threatened Thursday to respond to possible sanctions by shutting off the valves of a major gas pipeline supplying Europe, at a time when the continent is already facing shortages.
“What would happen if we cut the natural gas going out there? “, Launched the one who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.
But in an exclusive interview with AFP, its main opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, who lives in exile, estimated that Lukashenko was “bluffing”, calling on the EU not to dialogue with this “illegitimate” leader.
Brussels accuses Minsk of having put in place logistics to attract and transport migrants to the Polish border, with the promise of easy access to the Schengen area.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who accused Lukashenko’s regime of “state terrorism”, said Thursday that his country was the target of a “war of a new kind” with civilians being used as ” ammunition ”.
Caught in a vice
Warsaw further claims Belarusian security forces are firing shots into the air to force migrants to advance.
Minsk in turn argues that Polish border guards violate international standards by pushing them back with violence.
Caught in a stranglehold, many migrants, including children and women, are stuck in the wooded border area.
This is particularly the case for more than 2,000 people, in particular Kurds, who have been stranded for several days in a makeshift camp, where they warm themselves by burning wood to withstand temperatures close to 0 ° C.
“Emergency humanitarian aid,” including blankets, warm clothes and diapers, was delivered to them on Thursday, said a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, ten migrants have died in the border area since the start of this crisis.
Be on the look-out
Faced with this influx, Poland deployed 15,000 troops, erected a fence topped with barbed wire and approved the construction of a border wall.
Warsaw has recorded more than 32,000 intrusion attempts on its territory since August, including 17,300 in October.
In Sokolka, a Polish town located about fifteen kilometers from the border, the authorities were on the alert, stopping vehicles to verify that they were not transporting migrants, AFP noted on Wednesday.
Several residents of this city have expressed their concern and expressed their support for the firmness of their authorities.
“I am afraid that migrants will manage to pass, and the consequences that this could have,” said Henryk Lenkiewicz, a 67-year-old retiree.
Fearing to be drawn into the crisis, Ukraine, a country neighboring Belarus, announced Thursday the deployment of 8,500 additional soldiers at the border.