Merkel asks Putin to pressure Belarus in border conflict

The influx of groups of migrants to the border between Belarus and Poland continues to occupy the international community. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help in resolving the border dispute on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Moscow on Tuesday sent two nuclear bombers to Belarus to assist the country militarily.

Poland, Lithuania and to a lesser extent Latvia have been complaining for months about groups of migrants from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union from Belarus. The situation has been tense since hundreds, possibly thousands, of migrants showed up at Belarus’s border with Poland last week. Belarusian authorities have sent the migrants to the border to thwart the EU following sanctions previously imposed by the bloc. It is impossible to verify exactly how many migrants are involved because Poland has closed the border area to journalists and aid workers.

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The European Union will criticize Belarus’ policy on Wednesday. According to the French government, the country is “facilitating the trade in migrants to destabilize the EU,” a spokesman told Reuters news agency. EU President Charles Michel spoke in Poland of “a brutal attack on our EU borders”, with Minsk abusing the needs of migrants “in a cynical and shocking way”.

Russia sends bombers

In a telephone conversation that Merkel had with Putin on Wednesday, she called “the exploitation of migrants” by Belarus “inhumane and completely unacceptable”. Putin, who has close ties to Minsk, promised Merkel to “continue the conversation on the matter”. At the same time, Moscow sent two nuclear bombers to Belarus on Wednesday to patrol the border with Poland.

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Russia’s move came shortly after it became known that the EU is considering additional sanctions against Belarus for “artificially” creating a migrant crisis. The Belarusian regime denies allegations that it is using migrants as pawns in a power conflict. “At the beginning of next week there will be a broadening of the sanctions,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “It is important that Lukashenko realizes that his behavior has a price.”

According to the United Nations, the situation in the border areas is dire. Men, women and children are forced to spend nights in the cold, without food, water or medical care. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the countries concerned to resolve “this intolerable crisis”. According to Polish authorities, 599 migrants tried to cross the border on Tuesday. Nine of them have been arrested and dozens have been returned to Belarus. The area is heavily guarded by about 15,000 Polish soldiers.

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