EU officials announced it would put sanctions on airlines, travel agents and others accused of helping bring migrants to Belarus' borders with its countries.
This is the fifth set of sanctions the 27-country EU has put on Belarus, with others being set last year due to the highly disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko and a subsequent security crackdown on protesters.
"Today's decision reflects the determination by the European Union to stand up to the instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement to the AP."We are pushing back on this inhuman and illegal practice." "These people, I must say, are very stubborn: no one wants to return," Lukashenko said."And understandably so. They have nowhere to come back to. They have no place to live there, they know there's nothing to feed their children with. Moreover, some are simply afraid for their lives."
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
EU agrees new sanctions on Belarus, airlines over border crisisVideo from Polish authorities show hundreds of migrants gathered at the main Kuznica border crossing. Belarus denied it was driving the migrant crisis, which has left up to 4,000 people stranded in freezing forests, calling those accusations ‘absurd’
Read more »
EU, Belarus discuss migrant crisis as humanitarian situation worsensCalling for a de-escalation, aid agencies say that at least 10 migrants have died on the Poland-Belarus border so far as temperatures drop below freezing.
Read more »
EU moves to add airlines, others to Belarus sanctions listThe EU is expanding sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals accused of helping to lure migrants to Europe via borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. as part of a “hybrid attack” by President Alexander Lukashenko.
Read more »
Belarus denies engineering migrant crisis as EU strikes a tough tone on sanctionsEuropean foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday to discuss possible sanctions against Belarus as the humanitarian crisis at its border deepens.
Read more »
Russia is stoking tension with Ukraine and the EUThe Russian force gathering on Ukraine's border would struggle to take and hold much Ukrainian territory. Still, tensions are rising
Read more »
Russians flock to Croatia in search of EU COVID shotAlready a favourite with summer holidaymakers, Croatia is now seeing a surge in visitors from Russia seeking COVID-19 shots.
Read more »