MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. The European Union is looking at imposing sanctions on Belarus over the migrant situation at the European borders, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told a briefing on Tuesday.
When asked whether the migration crisis at the European Union’s borders with Belarus would be among the topics of the EU summit due on October 21-22, the Russian diplomat noted that this issue is highly likely to be on the agenda. "It [the crisis] was discussed yesterday, at a ministerial meeting, i.e. in the format of foreign ministers. It was among the topics. The ministers did not take any measures, but, to all appearances, passed this ball, or hot potato, if you like, to the leaders’ level. Extra sanctions against Belarus are not ruled out," he said.
According to Chizhov, there are no Russia-related topics on the agenda. One of the topics, in his words, will be the coronavirus pandemic and the key topic will be the supremacy of law in Poland. "The problem is the recognition of the supremacy of the EU legislation over national laws. The topic looks familiar to us. So, discussions will obviously continue around this matter. But it is unlikely to end up in Poland’s withdrawal from the European Union," he said.
German police said earlier that nearly 4,000 illegal migrants, primarily from Syria and Iraq, have reached Germany via Belarus and Poland since early August 2021. According to Bild am Sonntag, migrants are arriving in Belarus by air from Baghdad, Erbil, Dubai, Beirut, Amman, Istanbul, and from Damascus under student visas since mid-September. Upon arrival in Minsk, they are allegedly taken to the Polish border by Belarusian border guards or police and pay around 4,000 euro to the Belarusian side for helping them illegally cross the EU border, the newspaper claims.