Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Russia and Belarus hold military drills as migrant crisis on EU border grows

Russia and Belarus hold military drills as migrant crisis on EU border grows

Russia and Belarus flexed their military might for a third time this week near the Poland-Belarus border, where thousands of people are stranded in deplorable conditions, trapped at the center of an intensifying humanitarian and geopolitical crisis.

On Friday, Russia and Belarus held joint paratrooper drills near Poland, exercises the Belarusian defense ministry said were "in connection with the buildup of military activity near the state border of the Republic of Belarus."

Some 15,000 Polish soldiers have been deployed to Poland's border with Belarus in recent days in reaction to a tense standoff that the European Union, the United States and NATO say is of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's making.

NATO said Friday it was monitoring for any escalation or provocation in the situation on its members' borders with Belarus after the drills.

Western leaders, including prime ministers of neighboring Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, are accusing the Lukashenko regime of manufacturing a migrant crisis on the EU's eastern frontier as retribution for sanctions over human rights abuses.

Lukashenko's government has repeatedly denied such claims, instead blaming the West for the crossings and treatment of migrants.

Trapped in the crossfire are upwards of 2,000 people stuck between Poland and Belarus who are now facing conditions the United Nations has called "catastrophic," with desperate scenes of hunger and hypothermia playing out in freezing forests and at makeshift camps at the border.

Russia, Belarus' largest (and most important) political and economic partner, continues to defend Minsk's handling of the border crisis while also denying any involvement in it.

Russia demonstrated that support by flying two long-range Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers over Belarusian airspace on Wednesday and on Thursday.

The aircraft, known to have nuclear capabilities, practiced "issues of interaction with ground control points" with armed forces of both countries, the Russian defense ministry said.

A group of migrants walk along the Belarusian-Polish border in Belarus' Grodno region on November 12, 2021.


Neighboring Ukraine is also scaling up security. On Thursday, it announced it would hold military drills with some 8,500 servicemen and 15 helicopters in an area near its borders with Poland and Belarus to counter a potential migrant crisis.

The show of force unfolding across the region is continuing to test a fragile political order, with allegations from the United States on Russia's military buildup this week deepening concerns over the potential for a wider geopolitical crisis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US is "concerned by reports of unusual Russian military activity" and mentioned the possibility that Russia may be "attempting to rehash" its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia hit back at the allegations on Friday, saying that they represented an "empty, groundless escalation of tensions."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko shake hands in Sochi, Russia, earlier this year.


'This will not succeed'


European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the border crisis a "challenge to the whole of the European Union" earlier this week. "This is not a migration crisis. This is the attempt of an authoritarian regime to try to destabilize its democratic neighbors. This will not succeed," she said.

Western powers are now preparing to levy new sanctions on Belarus, and the EU said it was considering penalties against third-country airlines for contributing to the crisis by transporting people to Minsk, the Belarusian capital.

On Friday, Turkey's foreign ministry said in a tweet that they would ban people from Syria, Iraq and Yemen -- where many of the migrants stuck at the border are from -- from flying from Turkish airports to Belarus. The ministry on Thursday fought back against claims it was contributing to the crisis, saying that they "refuse to be portrayed as part of a problem which Turkey is not a party to."

EU Council President Charles Michel replied to the tweet, saying "thank you" for the "support and cooperation."

Moscow hasn't budged however, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing accusations that the Russian carrier Aeroflot had helped refugees travel into Belarus. Statements from Aeroflot demonstrate that it "did not provide and is not providing transportation of migrants to Minsk," Peskov said, adding that "even if some airlines are engaged in this, it in no way contradicts any international regulations."

In the US, the White House's National Security Council announced on Wednesday that it was preparing "follow-up sanctions" designed to hold Belarus accountable for "ongoing attacks on democracy, human rights and international norms." This is the second round of sanctions announced by the US in recent months. It is not clear when the new measures will be executed.

The EU is also expected to "expand and tighten its sanctions against Lukashenko's regime," Germany's acting Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday.

The human cost
Migrants gather to receive humanitarian aid in a camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in Belarus' Grodno region on November 12, 2021.


Meanwhile, conditions for migrants trapped at the border continue to deteriorate, with people at a makeshift migrant camp at Bruzgi, on the Belarusian border, now starving and desperate for firewood in near freezing temperatures.

CNN gained exclusive access into the camp, where chaotic scenes at a food distribution area were unfolding as the Belarusian Red Cross tried to hand out food aid to tightly packed crowds while Belarusian security forces pushed them back. Disappointment and grief is palpable throughout the camp.

Migrants fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria and Iraq had come to Belarus with the expressed purpose of moving deeper into Europe and of trying to find a better life. But now, there's a bitter sense of disappointment that isn't happening.

Since the beginning of November, there have been 4,500 recorded border crossing attempts, according to Polish authorities. The Polish border guard said it had recorded around 1,000 crossing attempts in the last few days, including some "large-scale" efforts with groups of more than 100 people trying to breach the fence.

Humanitarian groups are accusing Poland's ruling party of violating the international right to asylum by pushing people back into Belarus instead of accepting their applications for protection. Under article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution in other countries. Poland says its actions are legal.

As the standoff continues, people keep on coming. Belarusian authorities estimate that the number of migrant arrivals to the border could swell to 10,000 in the upcoming weeks if the situation isn't resolved.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×