Belarus does not want a confrontation with Poland but is still awaiting a response from the European Union on its proposal to transfer to the community bloc 2,000 migrants stranded at the border of the former Soviet republic, declared on Monday (November 22nd), President Alexander Lukashenko.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned on Sunday November 21 that the migration crisis on the Belarusian border could be the prelude to “something much worse” and accused Minsk of continuing to transport migrants to its territory with the complicity of the forces of security.
Quoted Monday, November 22 by the Belarusian news agency Belta, Alexander Lukashenko said he wanted to avoid any escalation.
“We have to talk with the Poles, with every Pole, and show them that we are not barbarians, that we are not looking for confrontation. We don’t need it. Because we know that if it goes too far, war is inevitable, “said Alexander Lukashenko. “And it will be a disaster. We know that full well. We don’t want any spark that sets things alight.”
The Belarusian head of state, accused of using the fate of migrants to put pressure on the EU, which has imposed several sets of sanctions on him since the brutal repression of demonstrations against the re-election of Lukashenko as head of state in August 2020, also warned Poland after the threat from Warsaw to close a border rail crossing point.
This threat could backfire on Poland, he warned, as eastbound rail traffic could then be diverted to the Donbass region, a region in eastern Ukraine in the throes of a separatist conflict.
“The idea of having a humanitarian corridor to Germany for 2,000 migrants is not an acceptable solution”
The European Union and Germany publicly rejected Thursday, November 18 a plan to end the crisis proposed by Alexander Lukashenko to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during two telephone interviews, providing for the repatriation of 5,000 migrants by Minsk and the taking in charge of 2,000 others by the European Union.
But the Belarusian president on Monday renewed his request for the transfer of 2,000 migrants to Germany and complained of having no contact with the EU on this issue. “I am waiting for a response from the EU. They are not even studying the matter. And have not even made contact – which (Merkel) promised me,” Lukashenko said.
Berlin again rejected Minsk’s proposal on Monday. “The idea of having a humanitarian corridor to Germany for 2,000 migrants is not an acceptable solution neither for Germany nor for the EU,” said a spokesperson for the federal government.
Alexander Lukashenko assured that Belarus was in the process of organizing a second flight to repatriate migrants for the end of the month. About 400 Iraqi nationals were repatriated to Iraq last week. It was the first repatriation of migrants from Belarus since last August.
