Migration crisis in Belarus: Merkel asks Putin to intervene

German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Russian President Vladimir Poutine to "

" against the "

" of migrants by the Belarusian regime, her spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday (November 10th).

See also German elections: "After Merkel"

In a telephone interview, the outgoing chancellor judged "

" on the border between Poland and Belarus where thousands of them are trapped, according to a tweet from the spokesperson. .

New EU sanctions against Belarus

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had previously declared himself in favor of new European Union sanctions against Belarus, accusing President Alexander Lukashenko of exploiting

migrants

"

" by sending them to the Polish border. Thousands of desperate migrants are massed by freezing cold on the Belarus-Poland border, with Warsaw accusing Russia and Belarus of using them to destabilize the European Union. On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki bluntly accused the Russian president of being the “

” of the wave of migrants.

The Kremlin on Wednesday ruled "

" to be held responsible for this situation.

Europeans have accused Alexander Lukashenko for months of fueling the crisis by issuing visas to migrants in revenge for European sanctions taken against his country for its repression of the opposition since the 2020 presidential election.