In view of the tensions on the Belarusian-Polish border, Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Belarusian ruler Alexandr Lukashenko on Monday evening. According to government spokesman Steffen Seibert, the phone call was about "the difficult situation on the border between Belarus and the European Union". According to Belarusian state television, the conversation lasted about 50 minutes. It was discussed, for example, how an escalation of the situation at the border could be prevented. It was also about humanitarian support for migrants stuck in the border area.
At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both pleaded for a de-escalation of the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. They also talked about the role that Russia could play in resolving the conflict, as it was subsequently called from Elysée circles. According to the Kremlin, Putin criticized the “tough crackdown” of the Polish border guards against migrants and said that the heads of the EU states should discuss the problem directly with Lukashenko.
The foreign ministers of the EU states decided on Monday a new sanction instrument against those involved in the smuggling of migrants to Belarus. The European Union will now be able to target people and institutions who have contributed to enabling the Belarusian regime to instrumentalise people for political purposes, the Council of Member States announced on Monday.
On Monday evening, the US government announced that it was preparing new sanctions against Belarus.
As the spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price, announced, in view of the “inhumane” actions of the Belarusian government, the punitive measures are being prepared “in close coordination with the EU and other partners and allies”.
Lukashenko's leadership must be held accountable for its "ongoing attacks on democracy, human rights and international norms," Price said.
"We condemn their heartless exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people and the inhumane support of irregular refugee flows across the borders."
EU accuses Lukashenko of calculus
Meanwhile, more and more migrants are gathering on the Belarusian side of the Kuznica border crossing on the EU's external border between Poland and Belarus. According to the police, around 3,500 people are now gathered there, the spokesman for the Polish coordinator of the secret services, Stanislaw Zaryn, wrote on Twitter on Monday. He also posted a video with aerial photographs. They show a large crowd at the clearance facilities of the closed border crossing and an abandoned, destroyed tent camp nearby.
On Monday evening, however, the situation at the Kuznica border crossing remained calm for the time being.
The refugees had started to set up a tent camp there, wrote the spokesman for the coordinator for secret services, Stanislaw Zaryn, on Twitter.
He also published pictures showing people in winter jackets as well as tents and sleeping bags under the roof of the border clearance station.
On the other hand, near the village of Starzyna, a group of several hundred migrants tried in vain to overcome the border fortifications.
A police spokesman reported.
Police officers, border guards and soldiers were thrown with stones in the incident.
The information cannot be verified independently because Poland has declared a state of emergency in the border region.
Journalists and helpers are not allowed in.
Poland intends to start building a permanent fortification on its border with Belarus this year, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski wrote on Twitter.
Poland has already put up a temporary fence along the border.
This is a barbed wire fence around 2.50 meters high.
This is now to be replaced by a permanent barrier 5.5 meters high, which is equipped with motion detectors and cameras.
The EU accuses the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU's external border in an organized manner.
It is believed that he is trying to take revenge for the sanctions that the EU has imposed for suppressing civil society and the opposition in Belarus.