Foreign Minister Heiko Maas found clear words when he met his colleagues from the EU in Luxembourg on Monday.

The situation in Belarus is "dramatic".

The regime uses refugees as an instrument to exert political pressure on its neighbors.

"Lukashenko is nothing more than the head of a state smuggling ring," said the SPD politician about the ruler in Minsk.

One is no longer ready to watch "that there are also companies like airlines that also earn money with them".

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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The foreign ministers of the two Baltic neighbors heard the same thing.

Edgar Rinkevics from Latvia called for the Belarusian airline Belavia to be "fully sanctioned" and also to target travel companies that organize migrant flights to Minsk.

Gabrielius Landsbergis from Lithuania called for a fundamental debate about which tools could be used to ward off the use of migrants “as a weapon”.

Close the gap in the sanctions regime

That was the prelude to what is now the fifth round of sanctions that the regime is supposed to hit in Minsk.

Alexandr Lukashenko still succeeds in “recruiting” migrants in the Middle East and North Africa, bringing them into the country and then bringing them to the green border with the two Baltic states and Poland.

Initially, this was done with scheduled flights from Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

The EU was able to contain this by putting pressure on the governments of these countries;

the airlines based there are no longer allowed to fly to Minsk.

Since then, the regime in Minsk has used a new tactic.

It sends its own charter planes that leave empty and return with passengers.

Embarrassing for the EU: Belarus has leased most of the modern Airbus aircraft in Ireland.

That is why the pressure is now growing to close this gap in the sanctions regime as well. In August, the foreign ministers of the neighboring countries were still pretty much alone with this demand, but the wind has now turned. Even Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Monday the country is aware of its responsibility and is open to increasing the pressure. "With existing contracts, we're not sure how to legally dissolve them," said Coveney. “In any case, there shouldn't be any new leasing contracts in the future.” However, that would change little in practice.

Coveney did not want to comment on the duration of existing contracts, but diplomats said there were long-term commitments of up to ten years.

This could well be suspended with new sanctions, but then a practical problem would arise: What happens if Minsk simply keeps the planes?

Federal government rejects humanitarian corridor

The German Foreign Minister brought another approach into discussion: to expand the existing sanctions framework so that not only human rights violations can be punished, but also smuggling. Then entrepreneurs would have to reckon with asset and travel freezes who now benefit from doing business with Minsk - also in Ireland. One could also target the network of tourism companies that attract migrants and sell them lucrative complete packages. The state-owned Belarusian tourism group works closely with tour operators in the Middle East.

Germany is indirectly affected by the migration flow. Of course, most migrants do not want to stay in the Baltic States or Poland and continue to migrate. According to the Federal Police, more than 4,300 people who had previously entered Poland via Belarus have entered the country without permission since August. During consultations with the EU ambassadors, the government in Warsaw proposed setting up a “humanitarian corridor” to Germany - which the German government strictly rejects. The heads of state and government will also look at the situation on the borders with Belarus when they meet in Brussels on Thursday.

The foreign ministers were unable to agree on Monday which path they would take with the next round of sanctions.

Maas then said that there was a fundamental consensus "that we have to counter it with very clear, very tough measures".

In the “next days and weeks” the legal and political possibilities are to be examined in order to create a toolbox.

EU foreign policy chief Borrell said ministers were ready to sanction Belavia.

In addition, one wants to influence other states so that they stop the smuggling business.

Time is of the essence, also because it is getting colder and colder.

This increases the risk that more people will die who are “trapped” in the no man's land on the border between Belarus and Poland.