Kyiv: Parliamentarians in Belarus have chosen to suspend agreements with the European Union requiring former Soviet defenders to take back migrants who crossed their territory to the EU.
Voting on Monday at the High Council of the Belarusian Parliament inaugurated the step announced by President Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in June.
Lukashenko and his officials have described the size as part of the Belarus response to European Union sanctions, on the grounds that the nation was unable to pay the fees involved in stemming migrant flow to Europe and instead used funds to compensate for the impact of UE sanctions.
Neighbors of Belarus EU Poland and Lithuania have struggled to overcome the number of extraordinary migrants, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, arriving at their borders with Belarus in recent months.
They accused Lukashenko to encourage migrant flow and use it as a weapon in what they describe as a “hybrid war” against block 27 countries in retaliation for sanctions on Belarus.
EU sanctions were put into effect after the Belarus government was harshly disoked the anti-government protesters in 2020 and was tightened this year after the Belarus was forcibly divert the passenger field to capture opposition journalists.
Poland has responded to large-scale migration by spreading troops, refusing to let migrants submit asylum applications and push some back across the border to Belarus.
A difficult approach has attracted criticism from human rights groups.
Poland’s influential Catholic Church appealed on Monday for humanitarian assistance for migrants.
Speaking in the Parliament of Belarus, Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Ivan Kubrakov described the suspension of the reception agreement again as “interim actions,” adding that the reception agreement with the EU can return to “after the relationship normalizes.” Pavel Latushko, a prominent figure of Belarus opposition who lives in Poland, alleged that Belarusian authority has pushed migrant flow to the EU.
“Lukashenko takes revenge against the European Union by releasing hybrid wars and using refugees to openly extort European authorities,” said Latushko to the Associated Press.
“Migration is part of a broad confrontation campaign with the West who was pursued by Belarusian authorities.”