The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders. Belarus has denied the accusation and expressed its readiness for dialogue.
Foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) have agreed on new sanctions against Belarus over the migrant crisis, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday.
RELATED:
Addressing a press conference after the ministers' meeting, he said the new set of sanctions had been "politically adopted" and "will be finalized in the coming days." The sanctions will affect "quite an important number" of individuals and entities, he added.
"By expanding the scope of the sanctions, we will be able to target those responsible for exploiting vulnerable migrants and for facilitating illegal border crossing into the EU," Borrell said.
The EU has been blaming Belarus for the current migrant crisis at its external borders. Belarus has denied the accusation and expressed its readiness for dialogue. On Sunday, Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Vladimir Makei told the EU that his country would try to reduce migrant flows from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the EU.
1000s of migrants & refugees at Belarusborder with Poland,hoping to get to W Europe, Many of them are now stranded at the frontier.Poland deployed police to bolster the border guards.8 deaths at the Belarus-Poland border, and temperatures have fallen below freezing at night. pic.twitter.com/s4AhCLy64W
— GreathFieldG (@CMcapitalG) November 15, 2021
Borrell said Monday that he had spoken to Makei and demanded that assistance should be given to provide humanitarian aid to the stranded migrants. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held a phone conversation on the situation at the border, especially regarding humanitarian aid for the migrants there.
So far, 166 individuals and 15 entities have been designated under the EU's sanctions on Belarus, according to the bloc's external action service. According to Lukashenko, the sanctions have dented his country's ability to tackle the crisis. Meanwhile, Poland's deputy interior minister said Monday that thousands of migrants were trying to cross from Belarus into Poland near the Kuznica border crossing.
"Thousands of migrants have moved from their camp to the closed Kuznica crossing under the supervision of Belarusian security forces," Maciej Wasik said, adding that the Polish authorities were "ready for every scenario." The Polish Defense Ministry said that the number of migrants gathered at Kuznica has been steadily growing. The latest reports estimated their number at between 2,000 and 4,000.
#Greece | Tensions soar between migrants and locals.#Migration #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/rsn2h67Xyc
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 3, 2020