EU urges further sanctions as Belarus ‘instrumentalises’ migrants for political purposes

EU president Ursula von der Leyen has urged EU Member States to approve an extended sanctions regime on Belarus, in the face of the country’s continued attempts to funnel migrants toward the border with the European Union.

Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki has accused Belarus’s Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin of bussing migrants to the border in deliberate retaliation for sanctions against both regimes.

In a 9 November statement, von der Leyen said: ‘The Belarusian authorities must understand that pressuring the European Union in this way through a cynical instrumentalisation of migrants will not help them succeed in their purposes. I have spoken to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš to express the EU’s solidarity and discuss with them the measures the EU can take to support them in their efforts to deal with this crisis. I am calling on Member States to finally approve the extended sanctions regime on the Belarusian authorities responsible for this hybrid attack.’

von der Leyen added that the EU will ‘explore how to sanction, including through blacklisting, third country airlines that are active in human trafficking.’

In recent weeks, international media have reported that up to 2,000 migrants are currently stuck at the border with Poland in sub-zero temperatures, with some trying to force their way through barbed-wire border fences as Polish guards use tear gas to deter them. 

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_21_5867