Wednesday November 10, 2021
EU prepares sanctions
Poland accuses Belarus of state terrorism
People starve, freeze and die in the forests on the Polish-Belarusian border. You traveled there with the support of the government in Belarus, is the allegation from the EU. The UN Security Council is dealing with the situation, and Chancellor Merkel is calling for a “humane solution”.
In view of the increasing number of people on the EU’s eastern external border, the EU states are preparing the ground for sanctions against participating airlines. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after consultations with US President Joe Biden in the White House in Washington: “We absolutely share the view that this is a hybrid attack by an authoritarian regime that is trying to destabilize democratic neighbors . ” Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the Belarusian leadership in Minsk of state terrorism.
Tomorrow, Thursday, the UN Security Council will be concerned with the situation at the border. France, Estonia and Ireland requested the meeting of the most powerful UN body for the afternoon in New York, according to security circles. The council is supposed to meet behind closed doors.
The Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a humane solution to the situation on the border with Belarus. You have to solve the problem in such a way “that it is humane,” she said before talks with the heads of government of Portugal and Latvia, António Costa and Krisjanis Karins, in Meseberg Castle north of Berlin. “Unfortunately it doesn’t do that at the moment,” she added.
“State smuggling and smuggling”
“On the other hand, it is also important that the EU can protect its external borders.” Merkel thanked Poland, Latvia and Lithuania for protecting the EU’s external border. In a telephone conversation she asked the Russian President Vladimir Putin to influence the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. “Because people are being used here. They are victims of an inhumane policy. Something must be done about this.” Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said: “What is being organized by the government in Minsk, the regime in Minsk, is of course state smuggling and smuggling.”
The leadership in Belarus is accused of deliberately bringing migrants into the country in order to then bring them to the border with Poland for onward travel to the EU. The assumption is that the ruler Alexander Lukashenko wants to take revenge for the sanctions that the EU has imposed because of the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition. According to diplomats, the new EU sanctions instrument, which could be used against airlines or tour operators, will be formally adopted next Monday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
In the next step, specific penalties could then be imposed. Von der Leyen said in Washington: “We will expand our sanctions against Belarus very quickly at the beginning of next week.” Lukashenko will not succeed in destabilizing the EU democracies. “We will protect our democracies.” The President of the Commission spoke of “a challenge for all of Europe”.
The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is tense. Several groups of migrants broke through the border from Belarus to Poland, according to Polish media reports on Tuesday evening. Numerous other people are camping on the Belarusian side in the border area. This information can hardly be verified at the moment, and access to the border is cordoned off.
“Inflammatory rhetoric” denounced
The EU member Poland has stationed thousands of soldiers at the border to prevent the barbed wire from breaking through. A dpa journalist who was traveling in the border area received an English-language push message from the Polish Interior Ministry, which was apparently sent over a wide area and aimed at migrants: “The Polish border is sealed off. The Belarusian authorities have told you lies. Go back Minsk! “
Despite the ever stricter security of the EU’s external borders, hundreds of refugees continue to come to Germany on the route via Belarus and Poland. Since the beginning of November, the federal police registered a total of 1246 unauthorized entries with regard to Belarus, as the authority announced. Since the beginning of the year there have now been 9087. Since the summer, Iraqis in particular have been coming via Belarus, but also Syrians, Afghans and other nationalities.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced the increased troop presence and the “inflammatory rhetoric” in the conflict on the border. Michelle Bachelet said in Geneva that she was appalled that migrants and refugees in a desperate situation would be left to their fate at temperatures around freezing point. “I urge the countries involved to immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation and resolve the unacceptable situation.” Bachelet also called for humanitarian workers to enter the areas, as well as lawyers, journalists and other members of civil society. International law stipulates that no one should be prevented from applying for asylum or seeking protection.
According to government spokesman Piotr Müller, Poland is considering completely closing the border with Belarus. This will be considered as an option in more far-reaching scenarios, he said in an interview with the “Wirtualna Polska” portal. The Belarusian authorities had been informed that such a possibility would exist if they did not cease their activities. So far there has been no response from the Belarusian side.