Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Belarus threatens to break gas line pipeline from Russia to Europe who passed through his country, following the refugee problem at the border with Poland which keeps getting worse.
The ultimatum was made by President Alexander Lukashenko in response to the European Union’s threat to consider imposing sanctions on Belarus over the refugee crisis at the border.
“We keep Europe warm in winter, and they still threaten to close the borders,” Lukashenko said.
“And what if we cut off the natural gas (transit pipeline) into that country? So I recommend the leaders of Poland, Lithuania and other brainless countries think before they speak,” he was quoted as saying. The Guardian.
The threat of cutting off the gas pipeline along the Yamal-Europe pipeline from Russia is an attempt to add pressure to the European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Belarus recently.
If the gas line is cut off, the European Union is in danger of experiencing an energy crisis in the midst of a surge in gas prices due to the international energy crisis.
The exodus of thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa continues across the Belarusian border to Poland.
The European Union accuses Belarus of deliberately triggering an immigrant crisis at the border in order to create instability in the region. European countries accused Belarus of deliberately opening the door to refugees to eventually go to Poland and other countries in the region.
The European Union suspects Lukashenko wants revenge for a number of sanctions imposed by the bloc earlier for human rights abuses in the former Soviet Union.
Lukashenko denied the allegations and went on to accuse Europe and the US of causing chaos.
In the midst of this chaos, immigrants become victims. Videos circulating on social media show the flow of immigrants through Minsk not slowing down. Hundreds of refugee immigrants are reported to arrive through Minsk every day.
Thousands of refugees are currently reportedly still trapped on the border of Belarus and Poland amid extreme winter weather conditions. Poland itself has been implementing a tough and strict policy towards refugees.
Poland insists it will not open its doors to refugees. The country reported about 468 illegal attempts to cross its border.
Quoted The Washington Post, refugees reportedly even tried to cut barbed wire using wood to break in. Poland has also deployed hundreds of troops to the border to push back the refugees.
One of the Syrians who fled via Belarus, Youssef Atallah, admitted that he was beaten after being arrested by local authorities along with four other people.
Not only that, Border Aid, a volunteer group of Polish medical workers, is reportedly not allowed to treat migrants in an exclusive zone designated by local authorities.
In fact, there are refugees who experience hypothermia, dehydration, hunger, food poisoning, and trauma. Many of them are even pregnant women and children.
Some neighboring countries of Belarus are even worried that the refugee crisis will eventually escalate into a military conflict.
(pwn / rds)
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