Britain accuses Belarus of 'engineering abhorrent migrant crisis' on EU border

15 November 2021, 22:28 | Updated: 16 November 2021, 00:05

The government has pledge to hold the Belarusian president to account after accusing him of attempting to "engineer a migrant crisis".

Britain has called Alexander Lukashenko's actions "abhorrent" as the president faces allegations of deliberately encouraging the migrants to breach its borders.

Thousands of Middle Eastern and African migrants attempting to cross into the EU remain trapped at the border between Belarus and Poland forcing the Ministry of Defence to send a small contingent of UK armed forces personnel to Poland to provide engineering support at the border.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "With reference to Poland, what we are seeing are the latest in a series of abhorrent attempts by the Lukashenko regime to engineer a migrant crisis to undermine Poland and others in the region.

"We stand in solidarity with our European partners and our commitment is to ensuring the Lukashenko regime is held accountable for its actions."

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Tensions build along Belarus-Poland border

EU foreign ministers are now expected to expand sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals alleged to be helping to entice migrants to Europe in what is being described as a "hybrid attack" on the bloc.

It follows a call by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to Mr Putin to intervene to halt what she called the "shameful manufactured migrant crisis" unfolding in the region.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has also voiced concern about the build-up of Russian forces on Russia's border with Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed claims that it is preparing to invade, after the Ukrainian defence ministry reported that around 90,000 Russian troops were massing in the area.

However, Mr Johnson's spokesman said: "We are seeing a concerning situation at the border. We remain in unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and will continue to support them in face of Russian hostility."

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Huge group of migrants in Belarus travel to Polish border

Later, the Prime Minister urged allies to "work ever more closely with those who do share our values and instincts", as he issued a warning over European reliance on Russian gas through the Nord Stream 2 supply line.

"So when we say that we support the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, that is not because we want to be adversarial to Russia, or that we want in some way strategically to encircle or undermine that great country," he was expected to say during a speech to business leaders, diplomats and dignitaries at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London.

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"And when our Polish friends asked for our help to deal with a contrived crisis on their border with Belarus, we were quick to respond.

"And we hope that our friends may recognise that a choice is shortly coming between mainlining ever more Russian hydrocarbons in giant new pipelines and sticking up for Ukraine and championing the cause of peace and stability, let me put it that way."

The tensions also come at the same time it was reported US Government officials had briefed EU counterparts that there is potential for Russian troops to launch an invasion of Ukraine.