The European Union has moved a step closer to penalizing Belarus for a crisis at the Poland-Belarus border, where hundreds of migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Africa remain trapped in freezing temperatures and with little food.
The bloc’s 27 ambassadors agreed on November 10 that the situation constituted a legal basis for further sanctions, which could come as early as next week and target some 30 individuals and entities including the Belarusian foreign minister and the national airline.
Meanwhile, the migrants, who are caught in the escalating diplomatic row, spent another night outdoors at the border on November 10 to 11.
EU leaders have accused Minsk of luring them from war-torn and impoverished countries and then purposely pushing them to the border with Poland to try to sow chaos on the bloc’s eastern flank.
Poland is refusing to let the migrants onto its territory and has sent hundreds of reinforcements to the border in recent weeks. It has also erected a barbed wire fence to stop attempts by migrants to break through.
EU Council President Charles Michel, who appeared with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a news conference on November 10, called Belarus’s actions a “silent revenge” for the EU’s support of democratic elections in Belarus in August 2020 “and for supporting the democratic changes that we hoped would take place.”
Morawiecki accused Belarus of “state terrorism.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said sanctions against Belarus will be expanded “very rapidly” at the beginning of next week, including the possibility of sanctioning airlines that “facilitate human trafficking towards Minsk and then the EU-Belarus border,” she added.
Von der Leyen spoke with reporters after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington. The White House said Biden and von der Leyen addressed the humanitarian situation on the EU’s border with Belarus and expressed “deep concern about the irregular migration flows.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The idea that Belarus would weaponize migration is also profoundly objectionable.”
Washington will keep pressure on Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Blinken said “as long as the regime is refusing to respect its international obligations, or commitments, as long as it’s undermining peace and security in Europe through its actions and as long as it continues to repress and abuse people.”
Lukashenka’s government, which is backed by Russia, denies the EU charges and has accused Poland and the EU of violating human rights by refusing to allow the migrants to apply for asylum.
The Kremlin accused Europe of failing to live up to its own humanitarian ideals and trying to “strangle” Belarus with plans to close part of the frontier.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 10, telling reporters afterward that she urged Putin to use his influence on Lukashenka “because people are being used, they have become, so to speak, victims of an inhumane policy — and something has to be done about it.”
The Kremlin issued a separate statement quoting Putin as saying the EU should engage in “direct contacts” with Minsk on the matter.
Highlighting the geopolitical dimension of the crisis, Russia on November 10 sent two nuclear-capable bomber aircraft flying over Belarusian airspace.
