Belarus prevents 3 Arab nationalities from entering its territory

Turkey and a Belarusian airline confirmed that they banned 3 Arab nationalities from traveling to that country, which was considered one of the crossing points to reach the European Union.

The Belarusian airline "Belavia" said today, Friday, that it will not allow citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen to board flights from Turkey to Minsk, at the request of the Turkish authorities.

Belavia was banned from flying over the European Union after a plane was forced to land earlier this year, but it continues to operate flights to destinations such as Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to Reuters.

For its part, the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement, extracts of which were quoted by Agence France-Presse, that "due to the problem of illegal crossing across the border between the European Union and Belarus, a decision has been taken that citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen who wish to travel to Belarus from Turkish airports will not be allowed to purchase tickets." And boarding the planes until further notice.”

On Thursday, countries bordering Belarus warned that the migrant crisis on the eastern borders of the European Union might escalate into a military confrontation, while Ukraine confirmed its intention to deploy thousands of additional soldiers to secure its borders.

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia said Belarus posed serious threats to European security in a deliberate escalation of migrants' use of migrants as a weapon in response to EU sanctions.

A joint statement issued by the defense ministers of the three countries stated that "this increases the possibility of provocations and serious incidents that may also extend to the military sphere."

On the other hand, the Kremlin confirmed, on Friday, that Russia is not intending to cut gas supplies to Europe, following threats made by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, on Thursday, in which he vowed to respond to any new European sanctions, including stopping the transportation of Russian gas through his country.

"The credibility of Russia as a supplier under current and future contracts is beyond doubt," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, explaining that Lukashenko had not coordinated his statements with Moscow.

The Western member states of the UN Security Council, in a joint statement issued on Thursday, declared Belarus to practice "organized exploitation of human beings" on its borders with Poland with the aim of "destabilizing the external borders of the European Union."

At the conclusion of an emergency closed session of the Council, the six member states (the United States, Britain, France, Norway, Estonia and Ireland) said that Belarus also aims, behind its actions in the context of this crisis, to "destabilize neighboring countries" and "divert attention from its increasing violations of human rights." .

More than two thousand migrants, most of them from the Middle East Kurds, have gathered for several days in a camp on the border between Poland and Belarus, in the midst of frost, where temperatures are touching zero.

For weeks, Europeans have accused the Belarusian president of orchestrating the crisis by granting entry visas to migrants and transporting them to the borders, in retaliation for European sanctions.

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