First modification:
The Belarusian president was in the shelter where 2,000 people wait to cross the border with Poland or Latvia and assured them that he would do everything possible to get them to Germany. Meanwhile, he affirmed that he will not force anyone to board the repatriation flights, while 1,000 migrants have already been repatriated to Iraq. NATO set a position and sent “strong solidarity with Poland and other allies involved.”
The migration crisis that is having its epicenter on the border that separates Poland with Belarus continues to add episodes while the solution still seems far away. With thousands of civilians from Asia (especially Iraq and Syria) insisting on overcoming the barrier that separates them from Western Europe, repatriation flights began to take off from Minsk to their corresponding countries.
This Friday, according to the Belta agency, President Alexander Lukashenko asserted that he will not forcibly return the undocumented who have been on the border with Poland for weeks. He did so as part of a visit to the industrial warehouse that houses 2,000 migrants.
Last Thursday, a thousand people were transferred to Iraq from the Minsk airport through two repatriation flights, while two others were scheduled for Friday, but they were canceled. “Under no circumstances will we stop you, tie your hands and put you on a plane to send you home if you don’t want to,” Lukashenko promised.
He also reported that, in addition to the 2,000 who are in the logistics center, there are about 3,000 more in Belarus. “I am sure this is temporary. We will do whatever they want, even if it is bad for Poles, Latvians and anyone else,” he said in the dialogue mounted with the migrants.
However, he clarified that the opportunities are limited because he cannot “start a war to open a corridor to Germany”, but that he will do nothing to stop them on their way to the borders of the European Union.
NATO sent its support to Poland in the face of the migration crisis on the border with Belarus
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), expressed his solidarity with the Polish government on Thursday in the face of migratory pressure coming from the shared border with Belarus and allies such as Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, that he is warned of the possible mobilization of Afghan civilians.
The NATO strongman spoke at a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda after a meeting between the two at the Alliance headquarters. This rally had as its central theme the compromised situation with Belarus and the flow of migrants pushed by the Lukashenko government.
Duda proposed to Stoltenberg to increase the NATO military forces in that fraction of the continent and reinforce the air patrol after arguing that the clashes with the migrants are orchestrated by the Belarusians and are now more dangerous due to their weapons and their night raids. “All NATO allies condemn the exploitation of vulnerable people by the Lukashenko regime. It’s inhuman and cynical, ”Stoltenberg said.
He stressed that they have “instruments such as knives, metal bars or tear gas” detailing the “militarization” of the refugees that is aimed directly at Belarus. However, despite the request, Stoltenberg ruled out the possibility of sending reinforcements as Poland “was able to deal so far without a direct NATO presence.”
Finally, he pointed to the need to deepen the dialogue with Russia, which supports Belarus and positioned military units on the borders with Ukraine, to lower the escalation of tension and deter the situation.
With EFE
.