EU Commission summons three EU ambassadors over situation of migrants

BRUSSELS

EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson summoned on Thursday EU ambassadors from Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia over the treatment of migrants coming from Belarus.

“I am very concerned about reports of people including children stuck in forest in dire situation at the external borders with Belarus," Johansson said on Twitter.

She had asked the Polish, Latvian, and Lithuanian ambassadors to the EU to meet with the representatives of the European Commission and the bloc's diplomatic service to “discuss the possible ways forward," she added.

Last week, 12 EU states, including Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania asked the European Commission to toughen security at the bloc's internal borders in a joint letter.

The signatories called EU budgetary support to set up physical barriers, and refused “instrumentalization of illegal migration.”

According to the EU, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko had invited tourists from countries that are the main sources of migration to the EU in order to revenge EU sanctions against his regime.

“This year, we have already seen more than 6,000 irregular arrivals coming across Belarus-EU border compared to barely 150 last year,” Johansson informed EU lawmakers last week.

BRUSSELS

EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson summoned on Thursday EU ambassadors from Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia over the treatment of migrants coming from Belarus.

“I am very concerned about reports of people including children stuck in forest in dire situation at the external borders with Belarus," Johansson said on Twitter.

Last week, 12 EU states, including Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania asked the European Commission to toughen security at the bloc's internal borders in a joint letter.

The signatories called EU budgetary support to set up physical barriers, and refused “instrumentalization of illegal migration.”

“This year, we have already seen more than 6,000 irregular arrivals coming across Belarus-EU border compared to barely 150 last year,” Johansson informed EU lawmakers last week.