The European Union (EU) must speak with one voice in response to the instrumentalization of inhumane migrants by the Belarussian regime in a debate in MEPs on Wednesday.
EP spokesman in Latvia Jānis Krastiņš informed Skaties.lv that in a plenary debate with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell on Wednesday afternoon, MEPs expressed deep concern over the dramatic crisis currently taking place on the Polish-Belarusian border. They also reiterated their strong condemnation of the current tactics of the dictatorial regime in Belarus in retaliation for EU sanctions to divert migratory flows to the EU’s external borders, exacerbating the situation in neighboring countries, especially Poland.
Borrell reiterated that the EU is currently engaging in extensive diplomatic engagement with migrants’ countries of origin to find solutions and prevent even more migrants from arriving.
At the same time, he emphasized the need for the Belarussian authorities to provide humanitarian assistance to people trapped on the Belarusian border, including access for humanitarian organizations to the region and the establishment of humanitarian corridors. He also announced that a decision on extending EU sanctions was imminent.
During the debate, several MEPs expressed concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, where people trapped between border guards are exposed to winter weather. They urged the Polish authorities to end the ongoing repression of aggressive migrants in Belarus and to accept the assistance of EU agencies in dealing with the humanitarian situation, deploring the fact that the country has so far refused to do so.
Other MEPs emphasized the urgent need for aid organizations to have direct access to the Polish-Belarusian border to help migrants trapped there.
Some MEPs called for EU funds to be used to build a fence to protect the EU’s external borders from illegal crossings and hybrid attacks, while others strongly rejected the idea. Other MEPs emphasized the need for tougher EU sanctions on Belarus, while stressing the Russian government’s “behind-the-scenes role” in the ongoing crisis, and called for a dialogue with Moscow to find solutions.
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