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Belarus-Poland situation before escalation: UN Security Council meets - Lukashenko is now threatened with the next blow

2021-11-11T12:02:43.839Z


There is a state of emergency on the border between Belarus and Poland. The UN is meeting and Lukashenko threatens again. The news ticker.


There is a state of emergency on the border between Belarus and Poland.

The UN is meeting and Lukashenko threatens again.

The news ticker.

  • Several dozen refugees have crossed the border from Belarus to Poland on their hoped-for way to the EU

    (see first report)

    .

  • The situation of migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border is apparently precarious: Both states accused each other of

    using

    violence against the people (

    update from November 10, 10:02 a.m.

    ).

  • Belarusian ruler Lukashenko is now threatening the EU with stopping gas deliveries if new sanctions are actually imposed on his country.

    (see update from November 11th, 12.15 p.m.)

Update from November 11th, 12.15 p.m.:

The situation on the border between Belarus and Poland is getting worse.

After Chancellor Angela Merkel had already called for a "humane solution", the UN Security Council is now meeting.

According to the dpa, France, Estonia and Ireland have requested the meeting for Thursday afternoon (local time) in New York.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian President Lukashenko reacts angrily to the voices of the EU calling for new sanctions against his country.

If this actually happens, he will have to cut off the gas supplies that come from Russia via Belarus to the EU.

"We are heating Europe and they are threatening us to close the borders," the news agency dpa quotes him.

+

Belarusian President Lukashenko is still not contributing to the de-escalation on the border with Poland.

© Nikolai Petrov / BelTA-Pool / AP / dpa

However, according to

Bild.de

,

he expresses himself

much more clearly on

state television

.

Accordingly, he insulted the European heads of state as "bastards and madmen".

"Nuclear power" Russia can help him, as he emphasizes.

According to the Polish government, Belarus itself is orchestrating the situation on the border.

Lukashenko, however, vehemently denies this and, according to

Bild,

speaks

of evidence that the Polish government is again holding the strings in hand.

An easing of the situation does not seem in sight, rather the highest level of escalation is now looming.

Migrants at the border: Merkel wants a “humane solution” in Belarus

Update from November 10th, 8 p.m.:

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has called for a humane solution to the refugee problem on the border between Poland, Lithuania and Latvia and Belarus. You have to solve the problem in such a way "that it is humane," she said on Wednesday evening before talks with the heads of government of Portugal and Latvia, António Costa and Krisjanis Karins, in Meseberg Castle north of Berlin. "Unfortunately it doesn't do that at the moment," she added. "On the other hand, it is also important that the EU can protect its external borders."

Merkel thanked Poland, Latvia and Lithuania for protecting the EU's external border.

In a telephone conversation she asked the Russian President Vladimir Putin to influence the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

“Because people are used here.

You are the victim of an inhumane policy.

Something has to be done about this. "


+

Grodno, Belarus: A child eats while other migrants warm up by a fire on the Belarusian-Polish border.

© LEONID SHCHEGLOV / AFP

Update from November 10th, 4:03 pm:

UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet has criticized the situation of the refugees on the Belarusian-Polish border as "unbearable". "I am appalled that a large number of migrants and refugees are still exposed to a desperate situation on the Belarusian-Polish border with temperatures close to zero," said Bachelet on Wednesday. She called for "immediate" access for humanitarian aid.

The Commissioner for Human Rights called on the states concerned to “take immediate action” and reminded them of their obligations with regard to international human rights and migration rights: “These hundreds of men, women and children must not be forced to spend another night in freezing temperatures without to spend adequate housing, food, water and medical care. "

Belarus: "Destabilize the EU"?

Poland raises violent allegations - Söder "very worried"

Update from November 10, 2:35 p.m.:

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused Belarus of state terrorism in view of the tense situation in the border area.

The events on the Polish-Belarusian border are not a migration crisis, but a political crisis with the aim of destabilizing the EU, said the Polish head of government on Wednesday at a press conference with EU council leader Charles Michel in Warsaw.

It is a manifestation of state terrorism, said Morawiecki.

"It is also a silent revenge from Lukashenko for supporting the democratic elections in Belarus last August and for supporting the democratic changes that we hoped would take place," the prime minister said.

+

Polish border guards stand behind a barbed wire fence fighting migrants as they gather at the Belarusian-Polish border.

© Leonid Shcheglov / dpa

Meanwhile, CSU leader Markus Söder warned against uncontrolled immigration to Germany and Europe.

"Clear actions and decisions are now required, otherwise a situation similar to that in 2015 could arise. Of course we will help, but a general opening of the border makes no sense," said Bavaria's Prime Minister on Wednesday of the dpa.

Söder emphasized that he was very concerned about the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus: “It is unbearable that Belarus is turning itself into a state smuggler.” He also called for sanctions against “airlines that are involved in this business” *.

He also criticized the negotiators of the nascent traffic light coalition *.

“I am very concerned about what the traffic light is planning.

In particular, the SPD and the Greens are in favor of opening the border instead of securing it.

That could lead to a new big wave of migration.

Belarus has to face the traffic lights, ”Söder continued.

Situation on the border between Belarus and Poland is coming to a head: Dramatic Merkel appeal in Putin phone call

Update from November 10th, 12.26 p.m.:

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) asked Russian President Vladimir Putin * to influence the authoritarian government in Minsk in view of the dramatic situation of migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border.

In a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Merkel underlined that the instrumentalization of migrants against the European Union by ruler Alexander Lukashenko was inhuman and completely unacceptable, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin.

Merkel asked Putin "to influence the regime in Minsk".

Lukashenko, meanwhile, threatened the EU - also with an indirect reference to Russia's nuclear weapons.

Belarus: Poland is considering border closure

Update from November 10, 11:48 a.m.:

According to government

spokesman

Piotr Müller, Poland is considering completely closing the border with Belarus. This will be considered as an option in more far-reaching scenarios, he said on Wednesday in an interview with the

Wirtualna Polska

portal

. The Belarusian authorities had been informed that such a possibility would exist if they did not cease their activities. So far, there has been no response from the Belarusian side.

The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is tense.

According to Polish media reports on Tuesday evening, two large groups of migrants broke through the Belarus-Poland border.

Numerous other people are camping according to the information on the Belarusian side in the border area.

The EU member Poland has stationed thousands of soldiers at the border to prevent the barbed wire from breaking through.


The government in Warsaw and the EU are accusing the authoritarian Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of targeting people from crisis regions in order to smuggle them into the EU.

Most of the migrants and refugees want to go to Germany.

Belarus: Migrants break through border barricades - Poland is looking for several people

Update from November 10th, 10.55 a.m.:

The police in Poland have arrested more than 50 migrants near the border with Belarus. Local police spokesman Tomasz Krupa said on Wednesday that the people broke the border in two groups and entered Poland illegally. The arrests were made in the past 24 hours near the village of Bialowieza. Several refugees have evaded arrest and are now being searched for.

"The situation is not calm," said Poland's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak on Polish radio on Wednesday. According to him, several smaller groups of migrants are trying to break through the border into Poland. “While two days ago we were dealing with a large group that gathered near Kuznica Bialostocka (...) and tried to cross the border, we are now dealing with numerous smaller groups that are the storm the Polish border in several places at the same time, ”he said.

According to the ministry, Belarusian officials are trying to intimidate migrants into crossing the border.

The ministry published two videos on Twitter on Wednesday in which a shot could be heard (

see previous update

), which was apparently

fired

on the Belarusian side by a man in uniform.

The footage also showed migrants standing near the border - including children.

Belarus: gunshots heard on Polish video

Update from November 10th, 10:02 am:

According to Polish authorities, Belarusian security forces fired shots in the border area to intimidate migrants.

They scared the migrants by firing shots in their presence, wrote the Polish Ministry of Defense on Twitter on Wednesday and published a short video.

Shots and screams from people can be heard on the clip, which is almost six seconds long.

The Polish ministry also tweeted that there was violence against migrants from the Belarusian side.

Identical allegations had previously been made from Belarus to the address of Poland (

see update from 8.38 a.m.

).

Służby białoruskie zastraszają migrantów oddając strzały w I obecności.

pic.twitter.com/GTvrW5xUYU

- Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 10, 2021

Belarus: New EU Plan Leaked

Update from November 10th, 9.11 a.m

.: While the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border continues to escalate, the European Union is approaching a new round of sanctions against Belarus.

Three EU diplomats confirmed this to the

Reuters

news

agency

.

According to the diplomats, around 30 Belarusian people and companies will be put on the sanctions list - including the Foreign Minister and the state airline Belavia.

For this, the ambassadors of the 27 EU states would officially decide that the migrant movements on the eastern EU border are a "hybrid war" and that this is a legal basis for new sanctions, according to the diplomats.

Federal Foreign Minister Maas had previously threatened to expand and tighten sanctions against Belarus.

Belarus raises allegations against Poland: mistreatment of migrants?

Update from November 10, 8:38 a.m

.: Belarus has accused Polish security forces of mistreating migrants at the border.

Four Kurds were beaten while trying to cross the border, the Belarusian border guard announced in the Telegram messenger service on Wednesday.

"Judging by the numerous injuries to the bodies of the migrants, the Polish security forces mistreated the people and forcibly pushed them behind a barbed wire fence on the border with Belarus."

Belarus publishes video and Telegram statement

Several men can be seen on a video released by Minsk, some of them wearing bloody clothes.

Another has injuries to his hands.

"According to the refugees, they were arrested on Polish territory, where they had tried to apply for protection and refugee status," said the message from the Belarusian border guards.

In the Belarusian-Polish border area, thousands of migrants are currently stuck in icy temperatures

(see initial

report

)

.

Both countries have soldiers stationed in the area.

Observers therefore fear an escalation of the situation.

Border dispute: Austria offers Poland help in conflict with Belarus

Update from November 10th, 7.31 a.m

.: Thousands of refugees are currently crowding on the Polish border with Belarus

(see first report)

.

Austria has therefore now offered Poland help with border protection.

Vienna will "stand by Warsaw's side in solidarity," Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told the

world

on Wednesday.

Like Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), Nehammer also called on the EU Commission to give the government in Warsaw more support in protecting the border.

On the other hand, offering help with the registration of migrants is "the completely wrong signal".

According to

Welt,

Austria had

temporarily made available Cobra special forces, drones, armored vehicles, night vision devices and thermal imaging technology for border security in spring 2020 to Greece and in the summer of this year to Lithuania.

Migrants apparently break through the border fence from Belarus to Poland

First report from November 10th

: Warsaw / Minsk - Migrants have been trying to cross the border from Belarus to Poland for days.

Thousands of Polish soldiers secure the border with Belarus.

According to the Polish media, two large groups of migrants managed to storm the border from Belarus into Poland.

Migrants apparently break through the border fence from Belarus to Poland

Several dozen migrants are said to have destroyed the fences near the villages of Krynki and Bialowieza in order to cross the border, the Polish news agency PAP reported on Tuesday evening, citing the local broadcaster Bialystok. The station quoted a spokeswoman for the border guards that in both cases fences and barriers had been violently torn down. Recordings from the border area had previously appeared showing scenes from the barbed wire fence.

Some of the migrants have been returned to Belarus, while others are at large.

Belarusian border guards released pictures of several people who were bleeding from their heads and hands.

There were deep cuts in the palms of the hands after people tried to get over the barbed wire fences.

They are Kurds.

They said they got medical help.

The night shots published in the morning by the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic could not be checked.

Dozens of people were also shown waiting in tents and around campfires.

A crying child could also be heard.

Belarusian state propaganda accuses the Polish security forces of brutal actions against those seeking protection.


There are hundreds of people on the Belarusian side. According to the Polish authorities, the refugees had received food from Belarusian organizations, it said. The EU member Poland has stationed thousands of soldiers at the border to prevent the barbed wire from breaking through. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko called on Tuesday to let people through. They didn't want to settle in Poland, but mainly in Germany, he said in an interview.

The politician, decried as the “last dictator in Europe”, has a reputation for allowing people from crisis states such as Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq to be flown in in order to smuggle them towards the EU border.

Lukashenko had denied the allegations and held international smuggling networks responsible for organizing people's trips.

He again admitted that he would no longer stop migrants on their way to the EU.

(dpa / ml)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-11

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