It was a long-awaited conversation.

The head of European diplomacy and the Belarusian foreign minister spoke on Sunday, November 14, on the migration crisis, as the European Union is preparing new radical sanctions targeting the Minsk regime. 

Josep Borrell said he spoke over the phone with Belarusian Minister Vladimir Makei about "the precarious humanitarian situation" on the border between Belarus and Poland, which is the eastern border of the EU. 

"The current situation is unacceptable and must end. People must not be used as weapons," Josep Borrell said in a tweet. 

Spoke to #Belarus Foreign Minister Makei to raise the precarious humanitarian situation at the border with the EU.

Peoples lives must be protected and humanitarian agencies allowed access.



The current situation is unacceptable and must stop.

People should not be used as weapons.

- Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) November 14, 2021

In Belarusian statement about this conversation, Vladimir Makei insisted that any sanction would be "hopeless" and "counterproductive".

Thousands of migrants from the Middle East camp on the border between the EU and Belarus.

This situation is a source of deadlock in relations between the EU and the United States on the one hand, and on the other Belarus supported by its ally Russia. 

Russia withdraws 

Westerners accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's regime of deliberately orchestrating the crisis by encouraging migrants to come to the country and then bringing them to the border.

But Minsk rejects the accusations and blames the West, in turn.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also dismissed accusations of involvement in the crisis and urged the EU to address Minsk directly.

On Sunday morning, Poland said it had arrested dozens of migrants from Belarus.

Warsaw warned of a possible larger forced passage attempt.

Police said on Twitter that 50 migrants crossed the heavily guarded EU-NATO border on Saturday near the village of Starzyna.

According to humanitarian organizations, at least 10 migrants have died so far.

>> Read also: Belarus: how migrants found themselves trapped at the gates of Europe

NGOs describe an ongoing humanitarian crisis with temperatures dropping below zero, and call for de-escalation to help migrants. 

The largest migrant camp, near the Belarusian village of Brouzgi, gathers, according to the authorities, around 2,000 people, including pregnant women and children.

The Belarusian authorities have provided them with aid, tents and heaters, a measure that could presage a semi-permanent presence at the border.

Warsaw refuses to let migrants pass and accuses Belarus of preventing them from returning home.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski on Saturday reported a rumor circulating among migrants that Poland would allow them to pass through on Monday and that buses would come from Germany to pick them up.

The government texted all foreign cellphones along the border, denouncing "total lie and nonsense!"

"Those who spread such rumors seek to encourage migrants to storm the border," warns this text.

Brussels wants to attack "all those who participate in migrant smuggling" 

EU foreign ministers are due to meet on Monday to expand sanctions on Belarus following its crackdown on opponents of the Lukashenko regime, which has ruled the country for nearly 30 years.

Josep Borrell said ministers would authorize sanctions against "all those involved in smuggling migrants to Belarus," including airlines, travel agencies and government officials.

"Lukashenko was wrong. He believed that by retaliating in this way he was going to twist our arm and cancel the sanctions. Quite the opposite is happening," Josep Borrell told the Journal du Dimanche. 

>> See also: Josep Borrell: Belarus commits "an attack on the dignity of migrants"

According to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, among the measures envisaged is also "the complete closure of the border, to cut the regime from economic benefits".

In an interview with the PAP agency, Mateusz Morawiecki also estimated that "the whole (European) community should contribute" to the construction of a wall on the Polish-Belarusian border.

Following pressure from European diplomats, Turkey has now banned Iraqis, Syrians and Yemenis from visiting Belarus.

The private Syrian airline Cham Wings Airlines has also halted its flights to Minsk.

With AFP

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