EU imposes additional sanctions on Belarus over human smuggling

Consul with travel agency

“An agreement has been made with Iraq,” says outgoing minister Knapen in news hour, asked why sanctions that did not work in the past would have an effect now. “It turned out that a Belarusian consul was working there who, in addition to the consulate, also had a travel agency. Such combinations were quickly dealt with.” Belarus claims that the migrants do not want to return to their country and are only interested in traveling on to the west, says Knapen.

Ministers have asked Poland and Lithuania to ensure that no people are killed by violence and cold at their borders. “The situation is of course very different from recent years, when people in the Mediterranean were floating in rickety boats, but the principle is the same: when someone is in danger of drowning, you have an expensive duty to reach out and rescue them. .”

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