“Western-style policy of imposing democracy in the Middle East is causing confusion”
Poland “14,000 refugees in Belarus… About 5,000 people gather at the border”
(Moscow = Yonhap News) Correspondent Yoo Cheol-jong = The refugee crisis at the border between Belarus, which has close relations with Russia, and Poland, a member of the European Union (EU), is fundamentally a result of Western policy in the Middle East. has criticized
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According to Interfax News, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference on the same day said, “We must not forget where all these problems started and who caused them. It belongs to those who made it (the West),” he said, targeting the West.
“The root of the problem is the long-standing policies pursued by Western countries, including NATO and EU countries, toward the Middle East and North Africa,” Lavrov said. “It was an attempt to force democracy,” he said.
It was criticized that the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ policy of the West, an attempt to plant Western-style democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, caused political chaos and a large-scale refugee crisis in the region.
“Refugees do not want to stay in Belarus, they want to go to Europe,” Lavrov said.
The refugee crisis at the Belarus-Polish border escalated as thousands of refugees from the Middle East who had been living in Belarus flocked to the Polish border area the day before and attempted to cross the border.
According to a video posted on the Internet, some refugees tried to cut off a wire fence installed by the Polish side using cutters, and Polish security personnel sprayed tear gas to stop it.
Refugees face off against Polish security guards who set up tents near the border and block border crossings.
The Polish side is known to have augmented and deployed troops and military equipment, including police, border guards, and soldiers.
The Polish border guard estimated the number of refugees gathered in the border area at around 5,000.
The Belarusian border guard said the refugees were suffering from lack of drinking water and food, and pregnant women and infants were forced to sleep on the ground at near zero degrees Celsius.
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In recent months, the number of refugees attempting to enter EU countries such as Poland, Lithuania and Latvia via Belarus has continued to increase.
Since the beginning of this year, more than 30,000 people have attempted to cross the Belarus-Polish border illegally.
According to the Polish side, there are currently around 14,000 illegal refugees in Belarus, and Belarusian authorities are trying to forcibly deport them to Poland.
Poland has declared a state of emergency on the Belarusian border and is blocking the influx of refugees.
According to the Tass news agency, Poland has continued to increase its border defense forces, with about 12,000 soldiers currently stationed at the border.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has been criticized by the West for allegations of corruption in the presidential election last year, has previously pressured the EU to accept refugees, saying Belarus has neither the funds nor the capacity to curb the influx of refugees due to Western sanctions.
The EU is arguing that Belarus is aiding or deliberately encouraging refugees to travel to Europe in order to retaliate against EU sanctions aimed at it.
cjyou@yna.co.kr
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