The Slovenia Times

Dnevnik analyses migration situation at Belarus-Polish border

Politics

Ljubljana - The newspaper Dnevnik looks at the migration chaos at the Belarus-Polish border in Tuesday's commentary, saying the EU is faced with a dilemma of how to lead a dialogue with an autocrat. It moreover warns of an emerging migrant disaster in Afghanistan.

Commenting on the situation on the Belarus-Polish border, the paper says that the Poland is flattered by its new role of a European guard-keeper.

The Belarus regime can be happy that after months of diplomatic silence because of its crushing of the opposition foreign statesmen are again phoning to Minsk.

Moscow can be happy as it is creating the impression that because of his threats that he will close the gas transit to Europe it is calling on Lukashenko to start a dialogue with the opposition.

"In the game with human lives on the eastern borders of the European geopolitical chess board only the people who are stuck in the artificially created migrant pocket are now in a check position."

In recent days, the EU reduced the possibility of migrants coming to Belarus by planes by threatening with more sanctions. It has done what it has learned from talks with Turkish President Erdogan and the Libyan authorities in the past years.

However, it has not solved the question of how to manage the situation or stop people from being abused for political purposes.

The problem is that Belarus is not a candidate for EU membership so it cannot be pressured with calls for patience, the problem cannot be outsourced and the humanitarian aid cannot be alleviated with pre-accession aid.

The dilemma for the EU is how to lead a dialogue with an autocrat and not let itself be blackmailed by him although he is responsible for the current crisis, which benefits both Moscow and Warsaw.

In this respect the Polish-Belarus crisis is more complex than the EU's relation with Erdogan.

But given the number of people stuck at the Polish-Belarus border, this situation should still be easier to resolve than the emerging disaster in Afghanistan, where four months since the Taliban took over the country is about to collapse.

The absence of political dialogue with the new regime that is not showing any signs of respecting human rights has led to virtually full closure of financial flows and brought the country to the point where only an escape may be a salvation.

For the time being Afghanistan is a pocket for migrants within the country's border but just before the point of bursting, Dnevnik says in the commentary entitled Belarus and Afghan Migrant Pockets.

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