Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is set to discuss in Brussels additional EU sanctions against Minsk to deter Alexander Lukashenko from “weaponising migration”.
"Lukashenko has waged a hybrid war against Europe. Downing the plane was just a first step," Landsbergis told EUobserver on Sunday, referring to Belarus' hijacking of an EU passenger airliner in May.
"Now he has stepped things up by weaponising migration," Landsbergis said. “We need to strengthen EU deterrence capacity to prevent malign actors from instrumentalising migration.”
Some 1,600 migrants, mostly from Iraq, have crossed into Lithuania from Belarus this year, around 1,400 of them since May 31 when the EU imposed economic sanctions on Belarus over the hijacking, according to the EUobserver.
Lithuanian officials say that the Minsk regime is complicit in facilitating the crossings, calling it a “hybrid” aggression. Minsk said it would not be stopping migrants, as they are not staying in Belarus and are heading to the EU.
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