EU accuses Belarus of ‘gangster’ antics as migrants tremble at Polish border

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SOKOLKA – Hundreds of migrants shivered in cold temperatures and huddled around bonfires on the Belarusian-Polish border on Tuesday in front of barbed wire fences and lines of Polish border guards blocking their entry into the European Union.

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The EU promised more sanctions on Belarus and accused the government of President Alexander Lukashenko of using immigrants as political pawns and putting lives at risk, calling it “gangster style” behavior.

Polish authorities were prepared for further clashes after some migrants used logs, shovels and other implements on Monday to try to tear down a border fence, escalating a months-long crisis in which at least seven migrants were killed.

Poland and other EU member states accuse Belarus of encouraging illegal immigrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa to cross the border into the EU in retaliation for sanctions already imposed on Minsk for human rights abuses.

“The Belarusian regime is attacking the Polish border, the EU, in an incomparable way,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a press conference in Warsaw.

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“We currently have an immigrant camp that is blocked from the Belarusian side. There are about 1,000 people there, mostly young men. They are aggressive actions that we must repel, fulfilling our obligations as a member of the European Union ”.

The Russian-backed Lukashenko government denies engineering the migration crisis and blames Europe and the United States for the plight of people stranded at the border.

Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation by phone and expressed concern about the concentration of Polish troops at the border, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported on Tuesday.

“To carry out a war with these unfortunate people on Poland’s border with Belarus and advance tank columns, it is clear that this is a training exercise or blackmail,” Lukashenko said in subsequent televised comments.

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“We will face this in stride,” he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that the EU provide Belarus with financial assistance to stem migration flows, referencing an earlier agreement with Turkey.

The European Commission said Belarus was illegally offering immigrants easy entry into the EU through its territory.

“This is part of the inhumane and really gangster-style approach of the Lukashenko regime that it is lying to people, abusing people, deceiving them and taking them to Belarus under the false promise of easy entry into the EU.” said a spokesman for the Commission.

About 2,000 migrants have gathered at the border and are trying to enter the EU, the Commission said, adding that the bloc was ready to help Poland on short notice if requested.

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The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, also called for an end to the use of vulnerable people as political pawns.

EU governments partially suspended a visa facilitation agreement for Belarusian officials.

A Polish special services spokesman, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Belarusian security personnel were “firing empty shots into the air, simulating dangerous events,” while providing tools to migrants to help them destroy the border fence.

The Polish Border Guard said it recorded 309 illegal attempts to cross the border on Monday and 17 people, mainly Iraqis, were detained.

In Lithuania, which could soon declare a state of emergency on its border with Belarus, four army trucks with armed soldiers were seen arriving at the Pertakas border guard headquarters after reports that hundreds of migrants were moving into the area. .

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The crisis erupted after Western powers imposed sanctions on Belarus for its violent crackdown on massive street protests that were sparked by Lukashenko’s claim to victory in the 2020 presidential elections.

His opponents say the vote was rigged, which he denies.

Humanitarian groups accuse Poland’s ruling nationalists of violating international asylum law by pushing migrants back to Belarus instead of accepting their requests for protection. Poland says its actions are legal.

A poll conducted this week by IBRiS for the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita showed that around 55% of Poles believe that immigrants who have crossed the border illegally should be turned away.