Belarus-Poland border crisis: West condemn Lukashenko regime for ‘orchestrating’ migrant crisis

Western powers have condemned Belarus for having “orchestrated” the migrant crisis and endangering lives “for political purposes”.

A dispute between Western nations and strongman President Alexander Lukashenko broke out this week after huge crowds of asylum seekers gathered at a border crossing with Belarus near the village of Kuznica, Poland.

The European Union claims Belarus is inviting thousands of desperate migrants to fly to the country in order to spark a confrontation and destabilise the bloc.

United Nations Security Council members including the United States, Britain, Estonia, France, Ireland and Norway on Thursday night issued a swift condemnation of Belarus.

In a defiant statement, they said: “"We condemn the orchestrated instrumentalisation of human beings whose lives and wellbeing have been put in danger for political purposes by Belarus, with the objective of destabilising neighboring countries and the European Union’s external border and diverting attention away from its own increasing human rights violations.”

They described the Belarusian approach as "unacceptable," and accused President Lukashenko of becoming a threat to regional stability and called for a "strong international reaction" to hold Belarus accountable, pledging "to discuss further measures that we can take."

© BELTA/AFP via Getty Images BELARUS-POLAND-MIGRANTS-EU

The EU says Belarus is encouraging thousands fleeing war-torn parts of the world to try to cross into Poland and other neighboring countries in retaliation against EU sanctions.

Belarus has warned the crisis could escalate into a military confrontation, while Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia said Belarus posed a serious threat to European security.

Russia’s deputy UN Ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told reporters ahead of the council meeting that he believed his Western council colleagues "have some kind of masochist inclinations because to raise this topic, which is a total shame for the EU, in front of us would be very brave."

When asked if Russia or Belarus were facilitating the migrant crisis, Polyanskiy said: "No, absolutely not." He added that not all problems needed to be tackled by the Security Council. Russia is a council veto-power so can shield Belarus from any possible attempts to impose UN sanctions.

Thousands of migrants including babies and children caught up in the geopolitical dispute are stranded at the border where 15,000 Polish troops have amassed to keep them out of the EU frontier nation. At least eight people have died in the border no man’s land.

European Council President Charles Michel has condemned what he described as a “brutal, hybrid attack on our EU borders”. “Belarus is weaponising migrants’ distress in a cynical and shocking way,” he said on Tuesday.

Experts say Belarus is seeking revenge against the EU for sanctions imposed on the Lukashenko regime following its brutal suppression of protests the erupted following his disputed election win in 2020.

Russia - Belarus’ most important ally - has accused Europe of failing to live up to its own humanitarian ideals by blocking migrants from entering its territory and described the EU’s proposed sanctions as unacceptable.

Reference: Evening Standard: Sami Quadri