Minsk

Hundreds of migrants who were camped in the cold on the Poland-Belarus border have been moved to a nearby warehouse in Belarusian territory, reports said on Nov. 17, with some still harboring hopes of entering the European Union.

The European Union and the United States vowed on Nov. 15 to press ahead with fresh sanctions against the regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, as migrants massed at the Polish border despite Minsk claiming it was trying to repatriate them.

Blaming Turkey or its national airline for the humanitarian crisis at the Polish border with Belarus is "misguided", President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's top foreign policy adviser told AFP on Nov. 13.

Migrants approaching a fence at the Belarus-Polish border in the Grodno region of Belarus, November 10, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/LEONID SCHEGLOV/BELTA

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau on Wednesday that Turkey was being made part of a problem despite not being party to it.

Turkey’s national flag-carrier, Turkish Airlines, was still flying migrants from Constantinople to Minsk twice a day despite the border crisis

Poland said it blocked a bid by hundreds of migrants to illegally enter the country from Belarus on Nov. 8, warning of an "armed" escalation as thousands more massed near the border.

As the latest grim chapter of Europe's migrant crisis unfolded, Washington and Brussels called on Minsk to stop what they described as an orchestrated influx.

Migrants massed on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland: Image: Polish Ministry of Defence

The Polish government called an extraordinary meeting of the crisis management team for 1pm Central Europe Time (CET). At the time of publishing, the standoff on the ground appears to be stable, with no major incidents as yet.

France's ambassador to Belarus has left the country after the authorities in Minsk demanded he leave by Oct. 18, the embassy said.

The spokeswoman who made the announcement did not say why the Belarusian authorities told him to leave.

The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ministerial meeting on Oct. 14 in Belarus' capital Minsk.

Growing number of migrants wants to enter the EU along that route.
After a few months ago, in response to Brussels' sanctions, Belarusian President Lukashenko allowed migrants from the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, to enter the country unhindered, the situation on the Polish border is becoming a new crisis hotspot.