Merkel asks Putin to intervene with Belarus over migrants
Source: AP
By VANESSA GERA, MONIKA SCISLOWSKA and GEIR MOULSON
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to intervene with Belarus over the migrant situation on that country’s border with Poland, where groups of migrants made bold attempts this week to cross into European Union territory.
The chancellor’s office said Merkel spoke with Putin by phone and underlined that the exploitation “of migrants against the European Union by the Belarusian regime is inhuman and completely unacceptable.” Merkel asked the Russian president “to exert his influence on the regime in Minsk,” her office said.
Russia is a close ally of the government in Belarus. Germany is a favored destination for migrants who manage to enter the EU.
The readout of the call released by the Kremlin said Putin “proposed to establish a discussion of the problems that have arisen in direct contacts of representatives of the EU member states with Minsk.” It also said that Putin and Merkel “agreed to continue the conversation on the issue.”
Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere warmup at the fire gathering at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene with Belarus over the migrant situation on that country's border with Poland. Merkel spoke with Putin by phone on Wednesday. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/european-union-belarus-europe-poland-migration-ee8912d6998a95f421c97b7c99e06f55
