Luxembourg, Oct 18 (AFP/APP):The European Union is ready to impose sanctions on Belarus’ state airline to try to curb illegal migration into the bloc, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
The EU accuses the Belarusian authorities of flying migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk and then sending them into the bloc on foot in retaliation for sanctions imposed over a crackdown on the opposition.
“We are ready to implement sanctions against the national company of Belarus,” Borrell said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The bloc has already imposed sanctions on key sectors of the Belarusian economy as well as scores of officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko and his sons, since a disputed election in August last year.
EU states Lithuania and Poland have seen thousands of migrants crossing over illegally from Belarus since early this year in what Brussels calls an orchestrated campaign.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called Lukashenko “the boss of a state-organised human smuggling ring”.
“We are no longer willing to watch companies such as airlines earning money by bringing refugees,” Maas said.
“We need sanctions to underline that we cannot tolerate this any longer.”
The EU’s Baltic members are pushing to stop the leasing of planes to Belarusian state carrier Belavia as part of a new package of sanctions being drawn up in Brussels.
But Ireland — a key hub for aircraft leasing companies in the bloc — warned that it may prove difficult to sever contracts already in place.
“Where there are existing contracts we’re not sure how that can be unwound legally, but what certainly we’re saying is that there should be no future contracts,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
The EU has struck deals with Iraq to stop flights carrying migrants to Minsk that has helped to cut the number of people arriving from the country.
Borrell said that the bloc was stepping up contacts with other nations to try to get them to follow suit and was also trying to dissuade international airlines from carrying potential migrants to Minsk.
The surge in people crossing illegally over the EU’s eastern frontier with Belarus has placed major strains on member states unaccustomed to dealing with large-scale arrivals.
Poland has drawn criticism for its hardline stance that has seen border guards push migrants back across the border with Belarus.
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