Germany Denies Agreement to Receive Migrants From Belarus

During a visit to Warsaw on Thursday, Germany’s Acting Interior Minister Horst Seehofer denied that his country had promised to host 2,000 migrants from Belarus.

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"That is fake news... We will not admit them or give in to pressure," he said, implying that allowing migrants to enter the European Union (EU) would be playing the geopolitical "game" set by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Nevertheless, Seehofer admitted the need to provide humanitarian aid to people trapped at the border as they are "an instrument of a perfidious strategy." The German cooperation would be carried out in accordance with "European values" and always on Belarusian territory.

On Wednesday, Lukashenko and Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conversation about the problem of migrants at the EU borders. They agreed the migratory problem would be brought up to the level of Belarus and the EU, and officials would immediately enter into negotiations to resolve the existing situation. Refugees' wishes to obtain asylum in Germany would be addressed in the same context, as reported by outlet Belarus Today.

Polish officials harshly criticized those telephone conversations, claiming that Germany and Belarus were making decisions without taking their country into account. "Everything we do, we have coordinated and talked about. We do not do politics behind the backs of our partners," Seehofer said in response to those accusations, emphasizing that Poland has Germany's "full support."

The Foreign Affairs minister also said that Germany does not plan to introduce "fixed controls" on its border with Poland, as some German police unions requested after having detained some 10,000 migrants so far this year.

"That would not solve the problem. We agree to keep our borders open," Seehofer said, referring to his talks with Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Mariusz Kaminski.