For the second time in three days, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone on Wednesday November 17 to discuss the migration crisis at the Polish border. A few thousand migrants, mainly from the Middle East, have been camping for days in freezing temperatures at the Bruzgi border post (Belarus), opposite the Kuznica border post (Poland).
The interpretation of the exchange differs somewhat between the two participants. According to the Belarusian presidency, quoted by the official Belta news agency, the two leaders agreed to “that the problem as a whole goes back to the Belarus-EU level, and that officials designated by each of the parties immediately begin negotiations”. The press release specifies that “the wish of refugees to come to Germany will be studied in this context”.
This statement was immediately qualified by Berlin, which only referred to cooperation between Minsk and the EU to provide humanitarian aid to migrants stranded at the border. “The Chancellor stressed the need to provide humanitarian aid and repatriation options for those affected” with the United Nations and “in cooperation with the European Commission”, explained Angela Merkel’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert.
The European Commission “will hold technical discussions on repatriation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the International Organization for Migration (IOM, associated with the UN) and with Belarus”, also specified on Twitter a spokesperson for the European executive, without further details. “Belarus must give access to humanitarian aid and provide shelter to migrants in the country “, he reaffirmed.
The day before, Polish security forces had used tear gas and water cannons to push back migrants who threw stones at them while trying to cross the border. The West accuses Minsk of having orchestrated this influx since the summer, in response to Western sanctions against Belarus after the repression in 2020 of an opposition movement. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak warned that this crisis “could last for months or even years”, claiming that migrants had again “attacked the Polish border” overnight.
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President Lukashenko, in power for three decades, spoke with Angela Merkel on Monday, his first call with a European leader since the start of the crisis. According to the spokesperson for the Chancellor, the latter had called Alexander Lukashenko to find humanitarian issues and allow the UN to intervene. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic, who visited the border region on Tuesday, said the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus was “extremely complex”.