EU mulling ways to end jet lease to Belarus’ airline

LUXEMBOURG — European Union overseas ministers looked astatine ways connected Monday to halt the amerciable migration into the 27-nation bloc from neighboring Belarus, including stopping companies from leasing jets to Belarusian hose Belavia.

The EU has accused the authorities of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of facilitating migration into the bloc successful retaliation for EU sanctions. Thousands of migrants person been lured to Belarus connected tourer visas and encouraged to transverse into Poland, Lithuania and to a lesser grade Latvia — each 3 of which are EU nations that borderline Belarus.

EU overseas argumentation main Josep Borrell said aft the gathering that the bloc is acceptable to follow sanctions against Belavia.

“Using migrants for governmental purposes is not acceptable,” Borrell said.

The migration numbers began expanding a twelvemonth agone aft the EU slapped sanctions connected Lukashenko’s authorities implicit the August 2020 statesmanlike election, which the West views arsenic rigged, and the information crackdown connected the Belarusian absorption and peaceful protesters that followed.

“Even though the concern seems nether control, the flows are really not diminishing,” Lithuanian overseas affairs curate Gabrielius Landsbergis said. “What tools bash countries similar Lithuania, Latvia and Poland request to use, oregon tin use, successful bid to halt the weaponized migration that is being forced connected the European Union?”

Landsbergis said the EU needs to find an businesslike mode to halt caller flights from North Africa and Middle East from flying to Minsk.

“The European Union did instrumentality immoderate steps that proved to beryllium rather useful: stopping the flights from Iraq, and stopping the flights from Jordan and Lebanon. But determination are a fig caller flights that are being opened up to alert to Minsk.”

Landsbergis asked for sanctions connected Lukashenko for exploiting susceptible people, and against Belavia. He besides urged the bloc to nonstop a wide connection to companies carrying radical to Belarus who person the volition to migrate that they are connected the EU’s radar.

Borrell said determination “is a agelong database of countries” from wherever radical are transported to Minsk via different airlines than Belavia. He said the EU volition interaction them each successful a bid to chopped the numbers.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, whose state is simply a hub for craft leasing, said helium is unfastened to a caller circular of sanctions targeting individuals successful Belarus. Coveney, however, insisted that ending existing leasing contracts could beryllium hard from a ineligible standpoint.

“How we really summation the unit done sanctions is thing that Ireland is precise overmuch unfastened to,” Coveney said. “But I deliberation we would besides marque a favoritism betwixt sanctions that would impact nary further, oregon future, craft leasing to Belavia, successful opposition to existing contracts that are successful spot wherever determination are ineligible obligations.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Lukashenko “is thing different than the brag of a state-run people-smuggling ring, and we are nary longer prepared to ticker arsenic companies, specified arsenic airlines, besides marque wealth from bringing refugees to Germany oregon different European countries.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, said separately successful Berlin that Germany has noticed an summation of amerciable entries on the German-Polish borderline since August and that the country’s interior curate volition contiguous assorted options to respond to this astatine Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting. A spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry, Alina Vick, said astir 4,500 amerciable entries from Poland person been registered since August.