As the EU considers building a Trump-style wall, it flew two Russian nuclear bombers over Belarus. This was in an extraordinary U-turn by the EU to address the current migrant crisis.
The Kremlin called suggestions it is involved in the dispute ‘crazy’ but Vladimir Putin lent more support to tyrant Alexander Lukashenko by dispatching two Tu-160 ‘White Swan’ jets to carry out drills for the second day running.
Lukasenko has threatened to shut off European gas supplies following new EU sanctions against him for his regime’s ‘weaponizing’ of migrants. He had been transporting the refugees from North Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa all the way to Poland.
Lukashenko stated that “We are warming Europe and they are threatening to us”, pointing out the fact that Russia’s Yamal-Europe major pipeline passes through Belarus, which connects with Poland.
“And what if the natural gas supply is stopped?”
Charles Michel, president of the European Council stunned Brussels when he suggested that a Trump-style Wall could be used to strengthen defenses.
This would be a remarkable change for EU senior officials who had previously criticized Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister and former US President Donald Trump for promoting similar policies.
To stop migrants from entering the EU, 15,000 Polish soldiers were deployed at the border.
A Russian Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile-carrying bomber over Belarus today
On Thursday, two Russian nuclear bombers flew over Belarus amid rising tensions at EU borders over the Migrant Crisis.
In images published by Minsk’s government, Migrant Women and Children are seen at the border of Belarusia and Poland around a camp fire on Wednesday. While temperatures have hovered around 41F and 5C in the daytime, they plunge below freezing at night.
Photo provided by Belarusian State shows migrants camped out at Poland’s border on Wednesday. After receiving visas from North Africa, the Middle East and North Africa to enter Belarus, many people have fled to the frontier to seek refuge.
According to the Belarusian defense ministry, on Thursday two Tu-160 Supersonic Strategic Missile-Carrying Bombers (SSM-160) are currently practicing combat training missions. They also simulate bombing at Ruzhansky Air Range without using any airborne weapons.
Belarus’ air force provided ‘escorte’ for the Tu-160s flying over Belarus.
Russia’s Aeroflot, a state-owned airline, is being accused of transporting thousands to Belarus through Moscow.
Bloomberg reports that on Wednesday, the EU discussed targeting Aeroflot in a new set of sanctions. This was cited by a bloc official familiar with these plans.
Aeroflot shares fell 1.24 percent at 10.35 in London
Aeroflot AFLT.MM denied involvement in the mass transport of migrants to Belarus on Thursday.
The airline stated that information about sanctions being threatened could cause a significant negative effect on its financial and operating activities, as well as on its capitalization.
“Aeroflot will defend the rights of its shareholders and the company’s interests in any legal way, even in court.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, questioned the idea of sanctioning Aeroflot. He said that he hopes it wouldn’t be realized in any event.
On a conference phone call, he stated that Russia is concerned about rising tensions at the Belarus-Poland border. He said both sides had heavily armed individuals.
Charles Michel (President of European Council) spoke during a commemoration for the Fall of Berlin Wall 1989. He said that Brussels can help to build a barrier to stop asylum seekers from coming in.
One young family standing beside the Polish border barbed-wire fence.
An immigrant family gathers around a campfire near the Polish border. The daytime temperature was around 41F, 5C. At night it dropped below freezing.
To keep out migrants, the EU could construct a wall along its border with Belarus. Pictured: Migrants are seen at a tent camp on the Belarusian-Polish border. The Polish Border Guard reports that several thousand migrants are approaching Poland’s border every day since November 8th, 2021.
He told stunned audiences in Germany’s capital that he had opened the discussion on EU funding of physical infrastructure. This was the first time he spoke to the crowd since the city, which has been split for more than three decades, was divided. This must be solved quickly.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen insists that there will not be any funding for barbed wire or walls.
Lukashenko is often called Europe’s last dictator. He denies orchestrating the attack on the EU that Michel described as a “brutal, hybrid attack”.
Warsaw believes that there are 4,000 migrants living on the Belarusian border with Poland. Russian media stated that the majority of migrants wanted to go to Britain. However, Polish officials claimed that most people who crossed the border want to seek asylum in Germany and/or the Netherlands.
Poland’s defense ministry published a video that allegedly shows a Belarusian soldier shooting into the sky to infuriate migrants trying to cross nightly.
The shot was fired and it shows the crowd screaming.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin “to exert his influence over the regime at Minsk.” Belarus was formerly a Soviet republic.
Pawel Jablonski was a Polish deputy foreign minister who claimed that Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukasenko wanted to “destabilize” the EU. He said that Lukashenko had’revenge’ on the EU’s sanctions against 166 persons who were tied to the Belarusian government last year.
Alexander Lukashenko from Belarus (pictured) was accused of weaponizing migration by flying would-be refugees in deliberately from the Middle East, North Africa, and then sending them across the border to Poland.
These measures were taken after Lukasenko’s crackdown against opponents in the wake of 2020’s disputed elections.
The EU ambassadors to Belarus today agreed to raise sanctions for the alleged’state terrorist’ activity of Poland. They will also be adding 30 entities and individuals to this list. They will have their assets frozen, and the individuals added to a blacklist for travel.
Russia made a rare gesture yesterday by sending two strategic bombers with nuclear capabilities to monitor Belarusian airspace. This was to support its ally.
UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi warned that the EU should not ‘enter into a race at the bottom. UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said: ‘These challenges simply do not justify the knee-jerk reaction we have seen in some places – the irresponsible xenophobic discourse, the walls and barbed wire, the violent push-backs that include the beating of refugees and migrants.’