“Lukashenko …unscrupulously exploits people seeking refuge as hostages for his cynical power play… But the European Union cannot be blackmailed.” he said. Germany’s acting Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on Wednesday that the images from the Belarusian border were “horrific”.
The EU earlier on Tuesday accused Lukashenko of using “ gangster-style” tactics in the standoff, in which at least seven people have died amid warnings from human rights groups that they face freezing conditions and a lack of food and medical attention. Poland and other EU states accuse Belarus of encouraging the migrants and refugees – who are mostly from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa – to cross in revenge for Western sanctions on Minsk over President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent after last year’s disputed election.ĮU diplomats told Reuters news agency on Tuesday that the bloc was close to imposing more sanctions on Belarus over the escalating crisis, targeting about 30 individuals and entities, including the Belarusian foreign minister. Hundreds are camped along the border, a fraction of the estimated 4,000 migrants and refugees gathered in areas near the frontier, including nearby forests.ĮU slams Minsk’s ‘gangster-style’ tactics Polish radio station RMF said about 200 people tried to breach the border on Tuesday afternoon, and a second group of 60 people made an attempt after midnight.īlaszczak said all who attempted to cross were detained, and that the force of Polish soldiers stationed in the area had been strengthened to 15,000 from 12,000.
Some tried to break through a barbed-wire fence using spades and other tools, but were repelled by Polish security forces.Ĭrowds of people have gathered in subzero temperatures near the Belarus-Poland frontier in recent days hoping to cross into the European Union nation, bringing a simmering months-long border crisis to a head and prompting flashbacks of the 2015 refugee crisis. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told broadcaster PR1 on Wednesday that it was “not a calm night”, as he reported “many attempts to breach the Polish border”. Poland has detained hundreds more migrants and refugees who attempted to enter the country from Belarus overnight and deployed 3,000 extra soldiers to strengthen the border.
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