MINSK, November 14. /TASS/. The situation with migrants at Belarus’ border with the European Union was the focus of a telephone conversation between Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, the Belarusian foreign ministry said on Sunday.
"The sides discussed the difficult migrant situation at Belarus’ border with the EU. Vladimir Makey informed Borrell about Belarus’ steps to reduce the migrant flows from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, to deliver humanitarian assistance to the refugees at the border, and about cooperation on this matter with international organizations of the UN system," the ministry said. "The sides reiterated their commitment to the prompt settlement of the migration crisis."
According to the ministry, the Belarusian side reiterated its principled readiness for an equal and mutually-respectful dialogue with the European Union. "The Belarusian side stressed the senselessness of the sanctions and the counterproductivity of the sanction-based approaches for the development of Belarus-EU relations," it said.
The Belarusian top diplomat said on November 12 that his country is ready to give a robust response to any sanctions linked to the migration crisis. "The problem is that a normal - responsible, equal, respect-based - dialogue on a comprehensive resolution of the migration program is needed," Makey said. In his words, Minsk is ready to grant access to the border with Poland for representatives of the European Commission. He noted however that Belarus’ EU neighbors are behaving "like bandits’ in the situation with migrants.
The migration crisis at Belarus’ border with Poland and Lithuania deteriorated dramatically on November 8, when several thousand migrants approached the Polish border. Some of them tried to tear down the barbed wire fence and break through into Poland. Polish law enforcers used tear gas to stop the migrants. Currently, there are around 2,000 migrants in the improvised camp at the border.
EU countries accuse Minsk of deliberate escalation of the crisis and call for more sanctions against Belarus. Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the blame for this situation rests on Western countries because people are fleeing their countries gripped by hostilities provoked by their actions.