The Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) advocates a fortified EU external border with Belarus. This is an effective way to get the influx of refugees under control. “We need fences and we probably also need walls,” said Kretschmer on Tuesday in Brussels. Even if it is so bitter and does not provide beautiful pictures. “Nobody is interested in walls, but now it’s about the European Union proving that it can defend itself.”
Kretschmer had previously spoken to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It should also have been about the refugees who come to Germany via Belarus and Poland. The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is playing a perfidious game, said Kretschmer. “I would like this European Union to be strong now and straighten its back. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be blackmailed by such a dictator.” Lithuania, Latvia and especially Poland should get all the support they need. “Only when the border is tight there and people can no longer be smuggled in will this phenomenon come to an end.”
The prime minister called for the crisis to be tackled by its roots. On the one hand, it is about starting negotiations with the countries of origin. On the other hand, sanctions should be issued against airlines that fly refugees to Belarus. Thirdly, “physical borders” are needed, which will be dismantled again when a democracy is established in Belarus. In addition, they must be turned back and deported even in winter.
There is no question of treating people coming to Europe properly, said Kretschmer. But we have to work with the same intensity to bring them back to their countries of origin. Word should get around there not to rely on Lukashenko and not to hand over his money to smugglers.
In response to Western sanctions, the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko announced in the spring that he would no longer stop migrants en route to the EU. The number of irregular border crossings at the EU’s external borders with Belarus and at the German-Polish border has increased since then.