MINSK, 10 November (BelTA) – The situation with migrants trapped on the Belarus-Poland border is not a conflict between Europe and Belarus, but a conflict with several countries on the periphery, political analyst, Director of the Center for European Integration Yuri Shevtsov told Alfa Radio, BelTA informs citing sb.by.
“Europe sticks to the principle: if a person flees the war and one way or another reaches Germany, France, Belgium, this person can apply for refugee status. If a person receives political asylum, he/she is entitled to a package of benefits allowing them to live a normal life like an average European. People from Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries go there for European values and the European package of benefits. They are fully aware that they will not be able to fit in, but their children, studying in European schools, growing up on the streets of European cities, will fit in. When we talk about the border crisis, we should understand that this is not a conflict between Europe and Belarus, but a conflict with several countries on the periphery. Poland adopted different legislation. It banned people who enter their territory from applying for political asylum; refugees were declared criminals, people who violated the border rules,” the analyst said.
According to Yuri Shevtsov, the goal of migrants is to slip through Poland into Berlin. "This is what migrants are striving for. They do not want to settle in Poland. Poland is not Europe. It's a nationalist society. Europe, as a whole, has long abandoned nationalism. But Poland and a number of post-Soviet countries are following the path of nationalism and doing the things that Brussels condemns. It demands Poland comply with European law, and hence there is a conflict between them. The Pope and the Catholic Church in Poland have also condemned the atrocities that Poland has done in respect of those poor people on the border with Belarus," the expert said.
According to him, Poland has some absurd ideas about itself and the reality. "By committing atrocities on the border, they violate European and Christian values. When our border guard gives his food to a Kurdish child, he is European. Poles are not," he noted.
