Migration has enriched European societies, shaped European culture and languages, and generated millions of new acquaintances and relationships, European Parliament President David Sassoli said on his Twitter page.
“We must oppose the far-right when they try to dehumanize those seeking a better life for their families,” he wrote, adding the hashtag #MigrantsDay, which symbolizes International Migrants Day, which is celebrated around the world on December 18.
Migration has made our societies richer.
It has shaped our culture, languages and led to millions of new friendships and relationships.
We must push back against the far-right when they attempt to dehumanise those searching for a better life for their families.
# MigrantsDaypic.twitter.com / FAL0aLAOgC
- David Sassoli (@EP_President) December 18, 2021
It should be noted that the statement of the head of the EP was made against the background of the ongoing migration crisis on the border of Belarus with the EU, in particular, with Poland and Lithuania, as well as reports of the use of force by representatives of these European countries against refugees.
Emil Chechko, a Polish soldier who applied for political asylum in Belarus, spoke about cases of such violence by the Polish military.
His interview to the Belarus 1 TV channel was published on December 17.
According to the serviceman, Polish border guards killed both migrants and volunteers who spoke in their defense.
“I saw one such situation when some volunteer came up and started asking:“ Where are you (refugees.
- RT
) taking them? ”
And the border guard simply shot him in the forehead, ”Chechko said.
According to him, he saw at least two such cases.
“The Red Cross just has to get there and investigate it all,” Emil Chechko emphasized.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Anatoly Glaz, in an interview with RIA Novosti, said that Minsk had accommodated and provided food at its own expense about 2 thousand people, who "were poured with pesticides and tear gas from the EU."
“In the current situation, it was Belarus that showed goodwill and humanism,” said the representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, stressing that the European Union did everything to aggravate the problem of the crisis associated with migrants.
Situation at the border
The State Border Committee (CBC) of Belarus has repeatedly reported cases of violence by both Polish and Lithuanian security officials against migrants trying to enter the EU.
So, at the end of November, the department announced that four refugees were beaten by the Lithuanian security forces.
One of them was found dead, the GPK said.
“They were also frightened and set guard dogs on them.
The consequences of such a "humane" attitude are numerous traumas and complaints of persistent pain, "the CPC said in a statement.
Also in November, the department reported that the Polish security forces met refugees with automatic bursts and sprayed pepper gas.
In addition, Polish border guards used explosive packets against migrants, which they threw across the border line into the territory of Belarus, Belarusian border guards reported.
“This is not the first time that Poland has used special equipment at the border against unarmed people.
The use by the Polish side of explosion packets, flash-noise grenades, water cannons and gas violates international legal norms and is a direct aggression against vulnerable groups of refugees, ”the statement of the Belarusian State Border Committee underlines.
At the same time, the EU does not want to negotiate with Minsk on refugees, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said last week in an interview with the Turkish television and radio company TRT.
When asked by a journalist about the progress of negotiations with the European Union on the migration crisis, Lukashenka replied that "no way."
Polish security forces on the border with Belarus
Reuters
© Kacper Pempel
“They may be interested in this, but they do not want to do anything in this regard.
And they don't have to do anything.
They need a reason to put pressure on Belarus, ”BelTA quotes Lukashenka.
The Belarusian president has once again rejected accusations from the EU against Minsk about deliberately provoking a crisis, stressing that there are no facts to confirm this.
He also recalled that illegal immigrants are fleeing Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and other states, since the United States, together with its European allies, invaded the territory of these countries.
"In rainbow colors"
Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that the statement by the head of the European Parliament “in rainbow colors” on migration and its impact on Europe is yet another evidence that the EU has not yet decided on its migration policy.
And the position of David Sassoli cannot be considered objective and close to reality, the expert believes.
"Sassoli does not say anything about the lawlessness that is observed, in particular, in Poland and Lithuania, in relation to refugees," the analyst said in an interview with RT.
Mezhevich stressed that if the head of the European Parliament decided to fight the ultra-right ideology in a migration context, then he should first of all pay attention to the violent actions of Warsaw and Vilnius against refugees on the border with Belarus.
“Now there is no humane attitude towards illegal migrants on the part of the EU, in particular from Poland and Lithuania.
Brussels actually ignores the facts of the use of violence against refugees on the territory of the European Union, ”the expert said.
As Mezhevich noted, the current situation is due to the fact that Brussels cannot take the side of Minsk, which records cases of the use of force against illegal migrants, but most Brussels bureaucrats are also uncomfortable on the side of Warsaw.
“Hence the desire of Brussels just not to pay attention to the problem, sweep the garbage under the carpet.
The EU will not react to this situation in any way, ”the analyst believes.
According to Mezhevich, Brussels clearly demonstrates its double standards in the situation around the migration crisis at the EU border.
“European migration policy is like trying to put out a fire and add gasoline at the same time.
The situation on the border of Belarus and the EU was strongly politicized and was largely artificially inflated in the media even when there were not many migrants yet.
At the same time, an increasing number of European officials are skeptical about migration, ”the expert said.
Refugees in Belarus
AP
© Oksana Manchuk / BelTA
In turn, HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev noted in a conversation with RT that, despite David Sassoli's positive statement about the impact of migration on the EU, in fact, there are many problems in Europe due to refugees.
“No integration of migrants into European values, which was supposed, is taking place.
Now there is talk about how to replace the integration of migrants into European society by finding a formula for living with them.
This means that the so-called integrative potential of modern Europe, to put it mildly, has burned out, and nothing can be done about it, ”the analyst said.
And for Warsaw and Vilnius, migrants even act "in the role of enemies," the expert said.
“In Poland, a nationalist-oriented government and, probably, cases of the use of force against refugees there will only increase in frequency.
Almost the same thing, but in slightly different variations, happens in Lithuania.
The situation at the border will be aggravated by such a forceful approach of these EU countries, ”the expert predicted.
At the same time, Brussels is afraid to go into an acute conflict with Warsaw over the migration issue.
“To go to a confrontation with Poland over the situation with migrants means to question the strength of a“ united ”Europe and come to the point of excluding Poland from European structures.
And the EU is very much afraid of this.
Therefore, Brussels will in every possible way avoid aggravating relations, ”concluded Evstafiev.