Westerners accuse Alexander Lukashenko’s regime of deliberately orchestrating the ongoing migration crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus.
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Dozens of migrants from Belarus have been arrested in Poland, Warsaw announced on Sunday (November 14th), warning that a greater influx was possible in the run-up to the EU summit which is due to examine, on Monday, the tightening of sanctions against Minsk. Police said on Twitter that 50 migrants managed to cross the heavily guarded EU border the day before near the village of Starzyna.
Thousands of migrants camp on the border between Poland and Belarus on the Belarusian side, causing an impasse in relations between the EU and the United States on one side, and Russia-backed Belarus on the other. Westerners accuse Alexander Lukashenko’s regime of deliberately orchestrating the crisis by encouraging migrants to come to its country and then bringing them to the border. According to humanitarian organizations, at least 10 migrants have died so far.
The Belarusian foreign minister said on Sunday, in a telephone interview with the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, that the policy of sanctions against his country was “hopeless” and “counterproductive”. Josep Borrell had earlier warned that Brussels would toughen its sanctions on Monday, to include “all those involved in the smuggling of migrants to Belarus, including airlines, travel agencies and government officials.”