Germany: Berlin accuses Belarus of using migrant situation as "political leverage"

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German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger accused Belarus of facilitating migration into the EU and using it as a form of political pressure during a press briefing in Berlin on Friday.

EU countries are accusing Minsk of allowing thousands of migrants to fly into the country via free tourist visas, and travel onwards to the border with Poland with the intention of crossing into the EU.

“This is not just ordinary, spontaneous air traffic but the targeted attempt by the Belarusian leadership to use migration, people who are probably in a desperate situation, as political leverage,” Burger stated.

He went on to say that sanctions could be extended to international travel operators who permit themselves to be ‘instrumentalised’ by Belarus into flying migrants into the country.

“We can within the framework of the EU now extend the sanctions regime to entities outside of Belarus, for example to airline travel companies, so they are threatened with sanctions if they participate in smuggling activities,” Burger said.

Meanwhile, German Economy and Energy Ministry spokesperson Beate Baron stated that Germany continued to require imports of gas for its energy needs despite its intention to transition to ‘climate neutrality’ by 2045.

SOT, Ulrike Demmer, German government spokesperson (German): “From October 28 to 29, Thursday to Friday, the chancellor will visit Greece. On Thursday she will meet with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis for dinner in Athens and then on the 29th in the morning she will meet with some young members of the civil society as well as hold talks with the Greek president Sakellaropol…. are there any Greek people in the room? So, with the Greek President Sakellaropoulou. I hope I’m saying it right.”

SOT, Christofer Burger, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson (German): “This is not just ordinary, spontaneous air travel but the targeted attempt by the Belarusian leadership to use migration, people who are probably in a desperate situation as political leverage. And travel operators are in this way instrumentalised as part of this system whether they know it or not. And we are trying to raise awareness, pointing out the problem, we are raising awareness of this. And we are also making it clear that when they allow themselves to be instrumentalised this way there could be consequences.”

SOT, Christofer Burger, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson (German): “We are monitoring very closely the alternative routes which are being chosen. In the last weeks there has been a growth of direct flights to Minsk for example from Damascus, Beirut, Amman, there are also flights via Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and that’s why, from our point of view, it is important to start at three points simultaneously.”

SOT, Christofer Burger, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson (German): “The first aspect is what the foreign minister announced in Luxembourg on Monday. We can within the framework of the EU now expand the sanctions regime to entities outside of Belarus, for example to airline travel companies, so they are threatened with sanctions if they participate in smuggling activity. There are recommendations brought to Brussels from Germany and we are working very quickly to get appropriate decisions from the Council.”

SOT, Christofer Burger, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson (German): “Secondly the address of the relevant authorities in the origin or transit countries [should be made] and thirdly therefore the bodies responsible for international air traffic should also be made aware of this problem.”

SOT, Beate Baron, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy spokesperson (German): “As I said, the delivery takes place on the market, there are different transport routes that go to Germany. There is the North Stream 2 pipeline, the delivery across Ukraine and deliveries through Jamal. The quantities for this are available on the market and at Nord Stream 2 it is known that the certification procedure is ongoing and this is also a clear legal requirement so that gas transport and trading can start on the common market.”

SOT, Beate Baron, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy spokesperson (German): “There is a need for the gas that is currently being sold as well as for the future for a certain transitional period of time, because we specially need gas for heating and as I said we have also set in Germany the year 2045 as the deadline to become a climate neutral country.”
#Germany #Berlin #Belarus
Video ID: 20211022-026

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