Baltics, Poland condemn triggering, escalation of border crisis by Lukashenko's regime

TALLINN - The chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Sejm of the Republic of Poland held a video meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, and made a joint statement. 

“We, chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Sejm of the Republic of Poland unequivocally condemn and oppose the triggering and escalation of a crisis on the Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian borders with Belarus, by Alexander Lukashenko's regime. These borders are also the external borders of the European Union and NATO. This is an unprecedented phenomenon, organized top-down by Belarusian authorities to destabilize the situation in our countries and the European Union as a whole," the statement reads.

"It is unacceptable to use people, citizens of third countries, as human shields, for cynical political games aimed at diverting the attention of the Belarusian society from illegally exercised power. Continuation of these activities will inevitably lead to a serious humanitarian crisis for which the authorities in Minsk will be held responsible. It is disturbing that Belarusian authorities are finding support for their actions in the disinformation campaign conducted by the Russian Federation," the chairs of the foreign affairs committees said.

"We call on authorities of the European Union and all member states to take immediate action to introduce new, serious, and broader sanctions against people and institutions contributing to this crisis. We support the decision of the Polish authorities to temporarily close the Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi border crossing to tackle illegal attempts to cross the border, with support from Belarusian services. We call on all states and international institutions mandated to do so to continuously pressure Belarusian authorities to end the crisis as soon as possible," they said.

The statement has been signed by chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Rihards Kols, chairman of the committee on foreign affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Zygimantas Pavilionis and chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Marek Kuchcinski.