Previously two days, 133 folks have been stopped on the Belarusian border with Poland, in comparison with 122 throughout the entire of final yr, in response to Polish authorities.
Poland and Lithuania have known as on European establishments to assist them take care of a surge in migrants crossing over their borders from Belarus, as tensions between European Union international locations and Minsk proceed to develop.
Belarus’s border safety company mentioned on Friday that it tightened management alongside its border with Lithuania to stop Lithuanian authorities from sending migrants again to Belarus.
On Thursday, Poland accused Belarus of sending a rising variety of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw’s resolution this week to present refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return dwelling from the Tokyo Olympics.
“We condemn the weaponisation of irregular migration by the Lukashenko regime with a aim of exerting political stress on the EU and its particular person Member States,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte mentioned in a joint assertion.
Previously two days alone, 133 folks have been stopped on the Belarusian border with Poland, in comparison with 122 throughout the entire of final yr, a spokesperson for the Poland Border Guard mentioned.
In current weeks, Lithuania has additionally reported a surge in border crossings from Belarus and mentioned Minsk was flying in migrants from overseas and dispatching them into the EU.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday accused Lithuania and Poland of fuelling the migrant situation on the border.
Within the assertion, Poland and Lithuania appealed to the European Fee, Frontex, the European Asylum Assist Workplace (EASO), different EU member states, and companions exterior the EU for political and sensible help and known as to strengthen EU migration and asylum coverage.
“We firmly imagine that the safety of exterior Schengen borders isn’t just the obligation of particular person member states but additionally the widespread accountability of the EU,” the assertion says.
EU calls assembly
EU dwelling affairs ministers and representatives of the EU border company Frontex and Europol are set to debate the problem subsequent week.
Slovenia, which holds the EU rotating presidency, mentioned the talks would happen by video convention on August 18, below a disaster response mechanism.
Invited are the house affairs ministers from the 27 member states in addition to representatives of the Frontex border guard company, EASO and Europol.
“With the state of affairs on the Lithuania-Belarus border, the EU has come below a critical safety menace and is a witness of state-sponsored weaponisation of unlawful migration in Belarus,” a spokesman for the Slovenian EU presidency mentioned.