German Chancellor Candidate Promises Lukashenka Tough Response for EU Blackmail | News from Germany about Germany

The regime of the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko in connection with the dramatic situation in the area of the Polish-Belarusian border will face extremely serious consequences, warned on Thursday, November 11, in Berlin, the candidate for Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Olaf Scholz (Olaf Scholz) … According to him, now the European Union is intensively preparing a joint EU response to Lukashenka’s actions, against which the toughest measures will be taken.

The authorities in Minsk are blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid to migrants and are playing a “misanthropic game,” Scholz said. “This should and will have consequences,” the German politician stressed, adding that everything must be done to improve the situation in which the victims find themselves. The EU is firmly on the side of Poland, Olaf Scholz said.

In turn, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki believes that the behind-the-scenes leader of what is happening “is sitting in Moscow.” The Russian government denies all of these accusations.

The temperature at the border is already dropping below zero

At night, the temperature on the Polish-Belarusian border hovers around zero degrees Celsius. Thousands of migrants who are there are freezing. Meanwhile, the government in Kiev expresses fears that these people could be sent towards Ukraine. Warsaw and Brussels accuse Lukashenka of deliberately redirecting flows of people from crisis regions with the aim of smuggling them into the EU. In response to the sanctions imposed on his country, Lukashenko announced that he would no longer stop migrants on their way to the “cozy West.”

See also:

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

On the border with Poland

A large number of illegal migrants from Syria and Iraq have now accumulated on the border of Belarus and Poland, who are trying to get into the EU. They are trying to break through the barbed wire fence set up by Poland. In May, Lukashenka announced that Minsk would no longer deter refugees from further travel to EU countries, and since then the number of illegal migrants has grown significantly.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Trapped between Poland and Belarus

Migrants are actually stuck on the border between Poland and Belarus. The Polish side does not allow them to enter the EU, indicating that there are no grounds for entry and that they are an instrument of hybrid attacks by Lukashenka. The ruler of Belarus is accused of provoking a migration crisis by organizing the transfer of thousands of illegal migrants to the EU borders.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Delivered to the border from Minsk

According to migrants, travel agencies in their countries sell air tickets to Minsk and issue them a 30-day visa. The cost together with the services of “carriers” is up to 20,000 euros. From Minsk, depending on the package of services purchased, they are either taken to the hotel or sent to the waiting room. When a group is recruited, they are put on a bus and taken to the border.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

The beginning of the journey of migrants from Iraq

Most of the illegal migrants trying to get to the EU through Belarus are Iraqi citizens. They arrive in Minsk from three cities on the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan: Erbil, Shiladze and Sulaimaniyah. Under pressure from the EU, Iraq has canceled direct flights to Minsk from Baghdad since August. People also travel to Belarus from Syria, Afghanistan, Congo. Migrants reach Minsk via Dubai, Turkey, Lebanon and Ukraine.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

First – a flight to Minsk, then – the border with the EU

Belarus has significantly increased the number of flights from the Middle East to Minsk. Until next March, about 40 flights are planned weekly from the airports of Istanbul, Damascus and Dubai to Minsk – twice as many as a year ago. The air harbors of these cities are currently most often used by migrants to fly to Belarus to travel further to the EU countries.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Flights with migrants not only at the Minsk airport

Currently, about 800-1000 migrants arrive in Belarus every day. In this regard, five more Belarusian airports may soon be used to service flights from the Middle East. They will go from national to international. One of them is located in the city of Grodno, just 20 kilometers from the Polish border.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

What is happening in the Belarusian border area

In the Belarusian legislation, nothing has changed regarding the visit of the border strip by citizens of Belarus and foreigners. To get here, you must first contact the border service, notify your intentions and get a pass. Violators face fines and deportation. But now there are many illegal immigrants in the border area. They are hiding in the woods, trying to cross the border with Poland.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Through Belarusian forests – to Poland

According to migrants, Belarusian border guards help them cross over to the Polish side – they cut the barbed wire or use drones to find a safe loophole. And already in Poland, using geolocation in a smartphone, migrants determine the location of the person who will take them further. For example, to Germany.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Migrants don’t want to stay in Poland

According to the Dublin regulation, migrants must apply for asylum in the country where they first crossed the EU border. But in Poland, refugees prefer not to register and leave their fingerprints in the EU fingerprint database. Many people succeed in this, and therefore the number of refugees that the German authorities can send back to Poland is extremely small.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Refugee target – Germany

Transport on the Polish side, as a rule, is a small cargo van, in the body of which 30-40 people are packed. An escort car drives ahead of the reconnaissance van. If suddenly there is a check on the road, the route changes. The Polish-German border is crossed in different ways: in the same van, on foot, and by taxi, and by public transport.

How the Belarusian transit of refugees to the EU works

Refugees in Germany

According to the German police, in October 4,900 migrants illegally entered the FRG through Belarus and Poland – twice as many as in September. All illegal immigrants caught or voluntarily surrendered to the German authorities are found by police officers with passports stamped by Belarusian border guards.

Author: Natalia Pozdnyakova