MINSK, 28 October (BelTA) – The leadership of the European Union countries Belarus borders on has only significantly increased the spending on creating an “iron curtain” instead of looking for ways to resolve migration problems. Deputy Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Roman Podlinev made the statement during a meeting on migration held as part of the 3rd Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security, BelTA has learned.
Roman Podlinev said: “Since the migration situation started to get worse, the border service has repeatedly pointed out to the European Union that they need to start working together again to fight illegal migration. But these initiatives have gone unnoticed. Belarus had to face these challenges and threats on its own. Instead of engaging in a constructive dialogue, neighboring EU countries have followed the path of militarization of the border, of confrontation, of ignoring matters of cross-border cooperation, and in some cases have resorted to inhumane methods of solving migration problems.”
The official noted that upon the initiative of neighboring EU countries a number of intergovernmental agreements on border affairs have been terminated or suspended.
“Recently instead of looking for ways to solve problems the leadership of the European Union’s neighboring states has only significantly increased spending on creating an ‘iron curtain’,” Roman Podlinev said.
He also mentioned the construction of various types of engineering structures and barriers at the border with neighboring countries. For example, Poland spends around €600 million a year just on the security and maintenance of the wall erected at the border. At the same time, this wall not only fails to solve the problem of stemming the migration flow but also causes irreparable damage to the environment, the representative of the State Border Committee noted.
Follow us on:
