Brussels, Nov 24, : The European Commission announced that it has proposed targeted actions to target transport companies that were allegedly involved in smuggling people into the European Union (EU), via Belarus. On Tuesday, von der Leyen addressed the European Parliament.
He stated that the measures would blacklist all transport companies involved in helping migrants to access EU airspace, land at airports, or cross EU territory.
“There are specialist travel agents that offer all-inclusive packages: flights, hotels, visas, and, somewhat cynically enough, taxis and buses to the border.She stated that these migrants are being vilely deceived by false promises.
Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the Commission, stated that the situation was caused by people being “sold lies” by international smuggling network.Schinas said, “This isn’t a crisis or migration threat, it is a security issue, so we must deal with it as such.”
If the measures are adopted, they will increase the pressure on Belarus to reduce the migrant crisis in EU countries bordering Belarus such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Last week, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, and Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian counterpart, called on the EU for cooperation with Minsk in order to end the months-long migrant crisis which has left over 10 people dead.
Since August, thousands upon thousands of migrants, many of them from war-torn Middle East countries, have been stranded at border between Belarus and its neighbours, trying to enter EU territory.
However, this month saw more migrants arrive on the Belarusian side at the border with Poland.
Last week, clashes broke out between Polish soldiers firing water cannons and migrants throwing rocks.
Similar tensions were also witnessed at the border of Belarus with Latvia and Lithuania.
According to a Kremlin statement, Putin and Lukashenko expressed their “serious concern” over the actions of the Polish border guards in the face of the migrants.
While the EU has blamed Belarus for the crisis and Minsk denied it, it said that it is open to talks.
int/shs #impose #smugglers
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