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Post by Admin on Nov 11, 2021 21:28:57 GMT
Polish police clash with the surge of migrants from Belarus after thousands attempt to cross the border into Poland. Belarus is accused of encouraging the migrants to make the illegal crossing as a form of political revenge for the sanctions imposed last year. NBC News’ Richard Engel reports.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested shutting off the flow of natural gas to Europe Thursday amid a threat of potential European Union sanctions imposed on the country for its handling of migrants.
"We are heating Europe, they are still threatening us that they will close the border. And if we shut off natural gas there?" Lukashenko said in comments first published by Belarusian news agency Belta, Reuters reported.
"Therefore, I would recommend that the Polish leadership, Lithuanians and other headless people think before speaking," the leader added.
The pipeline Lukashenko was referring to, the Yamal gas pipeline, carries Russian natural gas through Belarus to Poland and Germany, according to Reuters. Russia is an ally to Belarus.
Europe has experienced gas shortages and price increases in recent weeks, and any interruption to the flow of gas through Belarus could have significant effects for other European countries, the media outlet noted.
Lukashenko's comments follow accusations from the EU against Belarus earlier this week of using "gangster-style" tactics toward migrants gathering on the country's border with Poland.
Belarus is reportedly encouraging migrants to come to the border with promises that they will easily be able to enter the EU, and the country's security is reportedly giving migrants tools to damage Poland's border fencing.
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Post by Admin on Nov 13, 2021 20:18:09 GMT
Countries bordering Belarus are warning that the migrant crisis on its border could escalate into a military confrontation. Thousands of migrants are stranded on the border between Belarus and Poland in freezing conditions. Western countries at the United Nations have accused Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, of orchestrating the crisis in retaliation for sanctions imposed on his country. Thousands of migrants have flown from the Middle East to Belarus, with the promise of entering the EU, then transported to its borders with Poland and Lithuania and Latvia. Jane Hill presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Steve Rosenberg in Belarus, close to the Polish border. The stranding of hundreds of migrants on Belarus's border with Poland is just the latest brazen gambit in strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko's nearly three-decade tenure as Europe's most unpredictable neighbour. Belarus's loyal state media has for days been sending out images of refugees huddling around makeshift fires in near-freezing temperatures next to rows of barbed wire and columns of Polish border guards refusing them entry. The EU accuses Lukashenko of luring the migrants to his country to send them across the border. When the bloc with responded with plans for sanctions, he threatened to cut off Russian gas flowing through Belarus to Europe. The move on migration -- an attempt to embarrass Europe on human rights and pile pressure on the bloc over the historically sensitive issue -- is in a long tradition of unexpected surprises from Lukashenko. "He's unpredictable in his tactics -- he uses every opportunity available to him," said Alexei Makarkin, a political analyst at Moscow's Centre for Political Technologies. "But he is predictable in terms of strategy -- to hold on to power at any cost. And he will fight to the end," Makarkin said. Lukashenko is the longest serving leader in any ex-Soviet country and has ruled Belarus with an uncompromising hand since coming to power in 1994.
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Post by Admin on Nov 16, 2021 19:02:06 GMT
The European Union is to step up sanctions against Belarus in response to an escalating migrant crisis on the border with Poland.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed the move, saying that vulnerable migrants were being exploited in a "hybrid war" that is "intensifying".
Belarus is accused of pushing migrants towards its borders to undermine security, a charge it denies.
On Monday, hundreds of migrants were blocked at a crossing by Polish troops.
A video filmed at the border by the BBC showed migrants sitting down on a road in front of barbed wire and Polish forces in a tense stand-off.
Those migrants came from a large makeshift camp at the Kuznica crossing, where thousands have settled in tents just inside Belarus.
"Goodbye!" called out a smiling girl, flashing a peace sign as she, and hundreds more, streamed towards the border, hoping to get through.
But they are trapped between Polish guards on one side and Belarusian guards on the other. The migrants cannot get into Poland, but are also being prevented from retreating back into Belarus, according to Polish authorities.
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2021 22:28:41 GMT
Belarus's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, has said that he will not stop the flow of thousands of migrants through his country as they try to enter the European Union.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Lukashenko admitted that his armed forces may actually be helping migrants breach the heavily-guarded border with Poland.
Thousands of people, most of the them from the Middle East, have travelled to Belarus and been transported to the border with Poland in the hope of gaining entry to the EU. Ben Brown presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Steve Rosenberg who spoke to Alexander Lukashenko at the Presidential palace in Minsk.
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