As Belarus border crisis deepens, E.U. wants more sanctions

Russia sent two of its strategic bombers over Belarusian airspace Wednesday to test air defenses, according to the Ministry of Defense, in what was widely seen as a show of support.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said she phoned President Vladimir Putin and told him the exploitation “of migrants against the European Union by the Belarusian regime is inhumane and completely unacceptable” and asked him to use his influence to stop it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Europe for a “looming humanitarian catastrophe” that is due to “the unwillingness of our European colleagues to demonstrate the adherence to their European values.”

European officials have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the flood of migrants through Belarus into the European Union to retaliate for earlier E.U. sanctions.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is to raise the issue at a Wednesday meeting in Washington with President Biden, as the bloc prepared a new round of sanctions targeting Belarusian officials.

Many of the migrants on the border have told Belarusian state media they are trying to get the Germany, not stay in Poland. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas accused Lukashenko of “unscrupulously exploiting” the migrants by sending them to the border region.

“We will sanction all those who participate in the targeted smuggling of migrants,” Maas said, adding that the E.U must “extend and tighten” sanctions.

Putin told Merkel that European leaders must talk to Minsk directly, the Kremlin press office said, but the two leaders agreed to continue consultations.

Putin holds considerable sway over Lukashenko who pivoted to Russia for support when he faced mass protests after disputed August 2020 presidential elections.

“The Russian President proposed that a discussion of arising problems be arranged in direct contacts between representatives of E.U. member states and Minsk,” the Kremlin statement said.

The crisis has been brewing since June but came to a head Monday when a large column of migrants, mainly from Iraq, the Middle East and North Africa, walked to the Polish border to seek entry, escorted along a highway by armed Belarusian security forces, before being funneled into a forest adjacent to the Polish border fence.

Poland Monday said it was sending 12,000 troops to reinforce the border and Maciej Wasik, Poland’s deputy interior minister declared on Twitter, “they will not come in.” Warsaw officials said Wednesday that migrants made repeated attempts to break through the fence and enter Poland overnight, adding that more than 50 people had been detained near Bialowieza after crossing from Belarus.

Poland’s Ministry of Defense Wednesday released a brief video taken from the Polish side, showing armed Belarusian servicemen firing their weapons near terrified migrants. The ministry said the video showed that Belarusian forces “intimidate migrants by firing shots in their presence.”

The E.U. slapped sanctions on Belarusian officials and entities in October last year over the “fraudulent” presidential election and Lukashenko’s ensuing violent crackdown against peaceful protesters. So far four rounds of sanctions have targeted 166 people and 15 entities linked to the regime. There have also been sanctions over the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight to arrest an opposition journalist in May.

Lukashenko reacted angrily to the sanctions in June, warning that Belarus would no longer prevent asylum seekers, drugs and even nuclear materials from entering the bloc. From then a trickle of migrants grew to a flood, arriving by plane to the capital Minsk on tourist visas.

Von der Leyen said Monday the bloc would look at ways to blacklist third country airlines that facilitated human trafficking via Belarus.

On Tuesday the Council of Europe suspended visa facilitation arrangements for Belarusian officials seeking to travel to Europe in response to the migrant crisis.

The Kremlin has praised Belarus’s approach to the crisis as “constructive” and legal.