The tension on the Polish border grows at times with images of the military power that both Russia and Belarus are trying to show by deploying air landing maneuvers in a training field located in the province of Grodno, very close to the area where they are. the immigrants. Warsaw did not wait for its distrust of these “warlike” movements and has framed the measure as an “example of a hybrid attack.”
Russia has announced the holding of a series of “combat readiness” exercises, bringing a large deployment of paratroopers to the area in the neighboring country. Minsk has assured, however, that the maneuvers are due to the increase in military activity on its border.
The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, has criticized this Friday the “worrying activities” carried out by the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, on the border with Poland in the middle of the migration crisis.
In a press conference during his visit to France, Harris stated that the Administration of President Joe Biden is “concerned” about the matter and has confirmed that the matter has been discussed with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, with the one who has met.
“We are watching the situation closely,” he said, according to information from the White House. “The eyes of the whole world and of all leaders are on what happens there,” he insisted.
Russia’s announcement to extend its military presence in Belarus for a further twenty-five years raises the alarms of the European Union at a time when thousands of migrants, mostly from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, have tried to cross the border Belarusian throughout this year to enter EU territory.
Lukashenko, who has been sanctioned by Brussels in connection with the controversial elections held in August 2020, has warned that Minsk will not stop the flow of migrants. This has led the Polish authorities to declare a state of emergency in the border territories and to deploy the Army in the area.
The European Union has expressed its concern on Friday about the Russian military increase on the border of Ukraine, although European sources have ruled out a Russian aggression , as the US State Department has warned.
‘The EU is a direct neighbor of Ukraine and is closely monitoring the situation. The information we have is worrying, we have to see how the situation develops and we will study joint steps with the United States and the United Kingdom, “said the EU Foreign spokesman, Peter Stano at a press conference.
However, diplomatic sources have ruled out that this military concentration is the prelude to a Russian aggression, as Washington has warned, who believes that Moscow can “repeat” an invasion of Ukraine, as it did in 2014 with the Crimean peninsula.
Other community sources have ruled out that there is a link between the Russian maneuvers on the border with Ukraine and the crisis that exists on the Polish border, where Belarus has pushed thousands of migrants towards European territory.
Last April, the tension between the EU and Russia reached a peak with the military escalation on the Ukrainian border, where it mobilized the largest number of troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 in the framework of military exercises of which I do not notify the block in advance.
Then, the EU showed its support for Kiev and demanded that Moscow cease the maneuvers, understanding that a military escalation was of great risk for the region.
The EU maintains contacts with Minsk
The European Union has maintained contacts this Friday with the Belarusian authorities to demand humanitarian access from United Nations agencies to migrants trapped in the border area between Belarus and Poland.
The Polish border has become a scene of tension this week after thousands of migrants from the Middle East flocked to the area pushed by Minsk, which organizes their trips from countries such as Syria, Jordan or Egypt.
Community diplomacy has demanded this Friday the Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Aleinik, to put an end to the “hybrid attack” against the EU, according to European sources, who frame the conversation in the necessary contacts with all the actors related to the ” aggression ‘against the block.
In this sense, community diplomacy has demanded that Minsk allow international agencies access to the thousands of migrants and refugees who are in the Belarusian forests trying to pass to Europe and whose situation threatens to turn into a humanitarian crisis.
The European bloc also maintains a direct line with Moscow, an actor with special influence over Minsk, although in the community capital they recognize that contacts on the crisis on the Polish border are not positive.
Penalties with Belarus
The European Union’s foreign ministers will expand the framework of European sanctions against Belarus on Monday to respond to the instrumentalization of migration by the Alexander Lukashenko regime, which pushes people from the Middle East who arrive to the country on flights to European territory. to Minsk.
The tension on the European borders has reached its highest level this week after thousands of migrants crowd at the border crossing between Belarus and Poland, where the Polish authorities have deployed more than 10,000 soldiers.
The EU accuses Lukashenko of using migrants for political purposes, in full swing with the European bloc over sanctions against his authoritarian drift. Looking ahead to Monday’s meeting, the Twenty-seven will adapt the current community sanctions regime to also punish those responsible for the migratory movements orchestrated by Minsk.
In this way, the European bloc will equip itself with the instrument to apply restrictions against individuals, entities and agencies that are behind migratory flows. This will allow adding more people to the European black list that already includes 166 leaders and 15 entities responsible for internal repression, including the circle closest to the Belarusian president.
Although the Twenty-seven are determined to accelerate their response in full swing with Minsk, diplomatic sources point out that the fifth round of sanctions may take a few weeks while waiting for all the legal aspects that accompany the measures to be fixed.
