After pressure from Turkish authorities, Belarus’s state-owned airline announced that it would bar travelers from Syria, Yemen and Iraq from flying out to Turkey.
Lukashenko’s security forces have taken thousands of North African refugees to Belarus, where they brought them to the Belarus-Poland border. Poland has now deployed 15,000 troops to help.
Lukashenko is accused by the EU of leading migrants to Belarus. The Belavia airline, which operates in Belarus, has had to admit that it was involved in the trafficking of desperate refugees under the banner of the “hybrid warfare”.
Belavia stated that citizens from Syria, Yemen and Iraq would not be allowed to fly as of Friday, ‘according to the decision made by competent Turkish authorities’
Lukashenko, the Kremlin-backed Tyrant and sycophant, continues to be defiant despite increased Brussels sanctions. He threatened to shut off Russian gas supplies from Europe through a large pipeline running through Belarus on Thursday.
Russian nuke bombers flew over Belarus on Friday for the third time in a row, as Putin supported Lukashenko.
Last night, in the midst of chaos across Europe, the White House advised Brussels to prepare for an invasion by Russia against Ukraine.
American intelligence sources briefed European counterparts on a possible Kremlin operation in Ukraine’s east to annexe territory, similar to 2014’s annexation.
As food was distributed by an aid agency on Thursday, a large group of migrants clashed violently with each other.
To protect the little one from the brutal Belarusian November cold, the mother is carrying the child.
An officer from Belarus provides emergency medical attention to an immigrant in the Grodno area camp near the border between Belarus and Poland.
The Kremlin-backed dictator Lukashenko, seen at Minsk’s presidential palace on Thursday, remains determined in the face increased Brussels sanctions. He threatened on Thursday to stop Russian gas supply to Europe via a major pipeline that runs through Belarus.
These fears resulted from a buildup of Russian troops and tanks close to the border. The satellite images showed large numbers of vehicles at Yelnya Bryansk, Kursk, and Kursk.
Ukraine, which has been fighting an indirect war in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists for many years, has added 8,500 soldiers to its border as a response.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia warned of the possibility of conflict between Belarus, a close ally to Moscow, and Poland during a crisis at their border with migrants.
Lukaschenko warned about the possibility of conflict on Thursday and charged armed groups from the Donbas of Ukraine with trying to transport weapons to migrants crossing into Poland in an effort to ignite fighting.
According to Wyborcza Polish Newspaper, “They are Kurds. And the Kurds have become militant.” They become desperate when they are beaten, cut, tortured, and so on by Poles. A rifle and one gun are all you need to start an armed conflict.
After an emergency meeting held at the UN Security Council on Thursday, Belarus was condemned by the US as well as other European nations.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin urged the EU for diplomatic negotiations with Belarus to end the crisis over the 4,000 migrants who were camped at the Polish border in the freezing cold.
Poland refuses to permit migrants to cross the border, and Minsk is accused of trying to lure them to Belarus in revenge for the sanctions.
Following an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the US and European delegations condemned “the orchestrated instrumentalization human beings who have been placed in peril for political ends by Belarus”.
Minsk’s goal is to “destabilize neighbouring countries, the European Union’s outer border and divert attention away from its own growing human rights violations,” they declared in a joint declaration.
It was not mentioned that Belarusian ally Russia had been discussed in the statement. Russia has previously denied western claims that Minsk is working with Minsk to transport migrants across the EU’s Eastern border into Poland.
In a statement, Putin said that he spoke in favor of the restoration of contacts between EU countries and Belarus during a second telephone call to Angela Merkel.
So far, contact with Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has been blocked by the EU. On Thursday, he warned that new sanctions might see Minsk’s natural gas supply to Europe cut off.
Yamal Europe is one of the major Russian gas pipelines that connect to Europe. It accounts for around 20% of Russia’s overall supplying capacity. Russia is responsible for approximately half of EU’s natural-gas imports. The UK doesn’t rely on Russia for gas supply, which is a departure from the rest of Europe. The majority of Britain’s gas comes from Russia, but less than 5% is imported from Russia. Gazprom ships through the BBL Pipeline, which runs from the Netherlands. The majority of gas Britain imports is from Norway.
The camp of migrants at the Belarus-Polish frontier in Grodno is where they are warming themselves. It’s located not far from checkpoint Bruzgi. Belarus on Thursday night.
There are some 4,000 war-torn refugees who have set up camp at the border to get water, food, and shelter.
After a crackdown against the opposition in response to a dispute presidential election, last year’s bloc cut all contact with Lukashenko.
Due to the current migrant crisis, it is likely that next week’s EU decision will be to add new sanctions to Belarus on human trafficking.
Lukaschenko declared Thursday that Minsk “must respond” if the EU introduces new measures. The possibility exists that the EU could cut transit of a pipeline carrying Russian natural gaz through Belarus and Poland, as well as further into Europe.
He said, “We’re heating Europe and they’re threatening us,” “What if we stop natural gas supply?”
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the leader of Belarus’s opposition, said that Lukashenko is lying about gas cuts and asked for solidarity from the EU.
Tikhanovskaya fled Belarus last year after claiming victory in the election and told AFP in Berlin that it would be worse for Belarus.
She said, “We are thankful for the principled European position that they aren’t going to communicate (with) an illegitimate person.”
Poland deployed 15,000 soldiers along its frontier, built a barbed wire fence and approved the construction of a wall at its frontier with Belarus.
Premier Mateusz Morawiecki, in a statement issued for Poland’s Independence Day Thursday, stated that his country faced a “new type of war” whose “munition is civilians”.
Although migrants had been crossing the border since months, the crisis reached its peak when many made a concerted effort to do so on Monday. They were stopped by border guards from Poland.
The group set up camp at the border and hid in tents, burning wood from nearby forests, to stay warm. They were stopped by razor-wire guards.
On Thursday, a child cried at the border between Belarus and Poland. Belarus has been accused of ‘weaponizing’ migrants through the flight from North Africa to their destination and then transporting them to the EU border.
According to Gazeta Wyborcza, at least 10 migrants died at the border over the past months. Seven of these were on the Polish side.
The UN refugee agency and International Organization for Migration teams visited the camp Thursday to assess conditions and provide aid such as diapers, hygiene kits, and other supplies.
Polish authorities have banned journalists and workers for charity from the area bordering Poland.
The residents of Sokolka, Poland near the border expressed concern at the rising tensions and supported the government’s hardline stance.
Henryk Lenkiewicz, an elderly pensioner of 67, said that he was afraid about migrants crossing the border and would consider the potential consequences.
The Kremlin dismissed the claim that Putin orchestrated the crisis by accusing Poland.
Moscow and Minsk share close political, economic and military ties. Russian aircraft have flown patrols above Belarus this week.