Commission spokesperson on foreign affairs Peter Stano said that any parallels between the situation in Turkey in 2015 and the current situation on the Belarus – Poland border constitutes “misinformation” and called on Russia to exert influence on Belarus to end the instrumentalisation of migrants.
Stano also confirmed that the EU is in contact with Turkey as regards the current situation in Belarus, responding to a question on the possibility that Minsk and Ankara are coordinating.
Stano during Wednesday’s press conference at the Commission was responding to a question regarding statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to Reuters, Lavrov had raised the possibility on whether the EU could fund Belarus to handle migration in the same way it has done in the case of Turkey.
Stano was also invited to comment on a statement by Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who reportedly said that Belarus and Turkey were acting “in full synchronisation” over migration.
Responding to the first point, he noted that it is a long standing policy by the Commission not to comment on “remarks or reported remarks of partners from third countries or member states”. He added that “whoever claims or makes parallels between the situation with Turkey in 2015 and now with Belarus is basically engaging in disinformation”. This, he said, is a practice often used by Russia.
He added that the situation the EU is currently facing on the border with Belarus “is a state orchestrated artificially created migratory crisis”, explaining that the method is by now well-known and that the Lukashenko regime lures migrants to the country and then makes them attempt to cross into Europe illegally, keeping them in the area if they don’t succeed.
The spokesperson also repeated the EU’s call to Russia to use its influence over Belarus and the many links between the two countries to “make Lukashenko stop this illicit, inhuman and illegal activity”.
On Turkey, Stano noted that the EU is in an ongoing dialogue with the country on migration and other issues.
“We had an intense dialogue last spring when a similar situation came in a different context” he noted, adding that contacts with Turkey are ongoing and that “we reached out to Turkey also in the context of the current situation”.
The issue will be thoroughly discussed by the Foreign Affairs Ministers in the next Foreign Affairs Council on November 15th, Stano added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency