Belarus and EU to hold talks on migrant crisis
According to EURACTIV, Belarus said Wednesday (17 November) that President Alexander Lukashenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a telephone call that Minsk and the EU should discuss the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border.
The same day the European Commission confirmed that it will hold “technical talks” with Belarus on how to repatriate migrants seeking to cross the Polish border.
Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are camped at the border in what the West says is Lukashenko’s revenge for sanctions slapped on his regime after its brutal suppression of protests against his rule.
Lukashenko and his main ally Russian President Vladimir Putin have rejected the accusations and criticised the EU for not taking in the migrants who are seeking to cross over into Poland.
Lukashenko’s press service said the Belarus leader and Merkel “agreed that the problem as a whole will be brought up to the level of Belarus and the EU”.
“Relevant officials to be determined from both sides will immediately start negotiations to resolve the existing problems,” it said.
Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German leader had “underlined the need to provide humanitarian care and return options for the affected people” during the call.
Merkel, he added, said this could be done with support from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration and in cooperation with the European Commission.
The call was the second between Lukashenko and Merkel this week and the Belarus strongman’s first calls with a Western leader since his regime launched its crackdown, after Putin had called on EU leaders to talk directly to Lukashenko.
EU spokesman Eric Mamer said the contacts would be limited to discussions with Belarus and UN agencies on how best to get the migrants back to their countries of origin.
“Belarus must grant access for humanitarian support and provide shelter for migrants in the country,” Mamer tweeted.
