Migrants trapped on the border between Belarus and Poland. The Belarusian foreign minister said on Thursday that the European Union refused to discuss the current crisis.
Since Monday, attempts by hundreds of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, to cross into Poland from Belarus have triggered a serious crisis. Warsaw has deployed 15,000 troops in the area, in addition to police and border guards.
Dialogue broken, Minsk and Brussels blame each other
In an interview with the Ria Novosti press agency, Vladimir Makeï affirmed that the EU had cut its funding in Minsk in 2020 to strengthen its infrastructure at the border and build reception places for migrants. In response, Minsk ceased to respect an agreement with Brussels for the readmission to Belarus of migrants who entered the EU illegally from its territory. “We offered the EU to hold consultations on this matter, but we met with a refusal. Since then, we have repeatedly offered to start a dialogue on this issue, but have not received a positive response, ”said Vladimir Makeï.
He also claimed that the current migration crisis was the result of “the reckless policies” of Brussels which he said “invited the refugees and declared that it was ready to welcome them”. The minister also assured that Minsk was in favor of a settlement of this crisis “as soon as possible”.
Belarus in the Russian camp
Europeans accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of knowingly orchestrating this situation by issuing visas to migrants for months and bringing them to the border in revenge for European sanctions.
Since the relentless crackdown on an opposition movement in 2020, Belarus has been subject to heavy Western sanctions that have pushed it closer to Moscow.