Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko vowed a harsh response if the European Union imposes new sanctions on his country against the backdrop of the asylum seekers crisis, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a solution, amid a state of international concern about this crisis.
Lukashenko said that Belarus is heating Europe through the passage of Russian gas through Belarusian lands to Europe.
He wondered what would happen to Europe if his country stopped the passage of Russian gas, and addressed harsh words to the leaders of Poland, Lithuania and other European countries.
A few days ago, many asylum seekers tried to cross the border to enter Poland from Belarus, where there are currently about 4,000 asylum seekers at the two countries' borders, according to the Polish news agency.
Lukashenko indicated the possibility of suspending the operation of the Russian gas pipeline that crosses Belarus towards Europe (Reuters)
accusations and developments
The European Union accuses Belarusian President Lukashenko of coordinating the arrival of this wave of migrants and refugees to the eastern side of the bloc, in response to European sanctions imposed on his country after a brutal crackdown by his regime against the opposition.
In response to these developments, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the European Union on Thursday to communicate again with the Belarusian president.
During a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the second in two days, Putin stressed "the importance of addressing the serious migrant crisis as soon as possible," saying that this requires "reviving contacts between the European Union and Belarus," according to a Kremlin statement.
Impatient, Berlin said Thursday that it was "time to draw the consequences" of this crisis by tightening sanctions against Lukashenko's regime.
The European Union is expected to take action early next week, according to Brussels.
Maas accused Lukashenko of playing an unscrupulous game with human lives (Reuters)
position and accusations
In this context, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas pledged to Poland Europe's solidarity in light of the refugee crisis on the eastern borders of the European Union.
In his statements to the German parliament, "Bundestag", Maas accused Lukashenko yesterday of playing an unscrupulous game with human lives, adding, "The problem is Lukashenko, Belarus and the system of government there," stressing that for this reason Poland deserves European solidarity.
Maas again threatened to impose sanctions not only against Belarus, but also against any transit countries and airlines involved in the matter, and said, "No one who participates in Lukashenko's inhuman activities should be allowed to go unpunished."
On the other hand, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky denied that Moscow or its ally Minsk were helping migrants reach the border between Belarus and Poland to flood the European Union with them, stressing on the other hand that his country is not planning at all to invade Ukraine.
Regarding the migrants whom Belarus granted visas to enter its territory and are currently crowding its borders with Poland, a member of the European Union, the Russian diplomat said, “These are people who have come legally to Belarus and are seeking to enter European countries, especially Germany. They are not allowed to cross the border, and they are subjected to persecution and beatings. This is an absolute disgrace and a complete violation of international conventions."
statement and concern
After a closed emergency session held by the UN Security Council at the request of France, Estonia and Ireland regarding this crisis, the six member states of the Security Council (the United States, Britain, France, Norway, Estonia and Ireland) issued a joint statement accusing Belarus of practicing "organized exploitation of human beings" on its borders with Poland with the aim of "" destabilizing the external borders of the European Union.
The six-party statement also accused Belarus of seeking to "destabilize neighboring countries" and "divert attention from its increasing violations of human rights."
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, expressed his grave concern about the situation of migrants at the border between Belarus and Poland.
His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, called for dealing with the situation at the political level, stressing the need not to use migrants and refugees as pawns in any way, as he put it.