Water cannons connected to the solution of the crisis – Kommersant FM – Kommersant

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President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko ordered to organize places for illegal migrants to stay overnight. All refugees will be accommodated in a logistics center in the Grodno region. Last week, more than 2 thousand immigrants from the Middle East set up a spontaneous camp near the Belarusian-Polish border. On November 15, the refugees moved to the checkpoint, and on the 16th they tried to break into Poland. They occupied no man’s land and began throwing stones, sticks and metal rods at the border guards. While one group attacked, the other threw these objects over the Belarusian fence. The Polish border guards responded with a volley of water cannons and stun grenades.

The Polish Ministry of Defense said that migrants also threw flash-noise grenades – they were allegedly given to them by the Belarusian services. The clash lasted about an hour, RT correspondent Konstantin Pridybailo told:

“Around 12: 30-13: 00, several refugees left the main camp, which had spontaneously formed at the checkpoint. A group of migrants suddenly ran to the fence and began to break it. The Poles threw all their forces there, first the police came running, then the water cannons drove in. Refugees threw stones, sticks, some kind of logs at them, in general, everything that was found in this clearing, they threw at them. To this, the Polish police responded with tear gas. Matthew Chance of CNN was hit by water cannons. Then they stopped working on journalists, apparently, a command came in, this “war” lasted for about an hour. It was actually scary. “

Warsaw reported on repelling the attack and thanked the soldiers for their service. Together with them, the border was defended by police – seven of them were injured, including skull injuries. Among the victims on the Polish side is also a border guard employee. The exact number of injured migrants has not been reported. It is only known that there are women and children among them. “The refugees emphasize their exclusively peaceful intentions,” the Minsk statement said. In total, there are about 2,500 people at the Bruzgi checkpoint. They came there from a spontaneous camp, where they spent about a week.

The European Union is concerned about the situation, the acting chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, discussed what is happening on the phone with Alexander Lukashenko. According to the President of Belarus himself, they understood each other: “We have come to a common opinion that escalation is not needed by anyone – neither the European Union, nor Belarus. And we cannot allow escalation, no matter how much someone wants it, as I said, right up to a hot clash. The European Union is very concerned about the influx of refugees to Belarus, but there they absolutely do not know that we are not calling them here. Those who come to Belarus legally, we accept here the same as in any other country. “

Lukashenka said that he made a proposal regarding migrants. But he did not specify which one. Angela Merkel did not disclose details either. How can this crisis be resolved? Vladislav Belov, Head of the Country Studies Department at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, answered this question: “It is clear that the situation is at an impasse. The shots that we see from the border are impressive. In parallel, there are pictures from Europe, where they accept thousands of migrants who go along the sea route. And so the question arises: are we talking about double standards or a deliberately organized route? Lukashenka tries to explain: it turns out that, of course, we are not a sea power, but nevertheless we took advantage of us, we cannot stop it.

The appeal goes to Merkel on August 31, 2015, when she was forced to give instructions to open the borders to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and unnecessary potential victims. Therefore, it is no coincidence that she acts as a mediator, while not making any more statements, as it was on the date I mentioned when she said: “We can handle this.” Probably, Merkel is showing her talent as a compromise manager, trying to come to an agreement with Alexander Grigorievich.

With the President of Belarus, the time has come to look for a common denominator, now the word is for Brussels, and not for Warsaw, Berlin or Paris. This should be a unified European solution.

For all the specific position of Poland on many issues in the European Union, this conflict will not be resolved without Brussels, no matter what Warsaw thinks about the President of Belarus. If the tough position is maintained on both sides, then the aggravation, which no one wants, will continue. Moreover, speculations about the possible goal-setting of Minsk or Moscow in relation to this conflict on the part of the United States and other participants are interpreted in a geopolitical context. Nobody wants aggravation. “

Alexander Lukashenko announced that he will call Angela Merkel again. And on November 16, he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The parties “discussed the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border and joint actions to defend the borders of the Union State,” the BelTA news agency writes. This was the fourth telephone conversation between the two leaders in a week.

Ivan Koryakin

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