(Reuters) Lithuania’s foreign minister and the EU’s top diplomat accused Belarus on Monday of using illegal migrants as a political weapon to put pressure on the European Union because of the bloc’s sanctions on Minsk.
Belarus was flying in migrants from abroad and sending them over the border into EU countries, minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“When refugees are used as a political weapon … I will talk to my colleagues in order for the European Union to have a common strategy,” Landsbergis said. His words were later echoed by Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, who said: “To use migrants as a weapon, pushing people against the borders, is unacceptable.”
The EU should consider expanding economic sanctions that were imposed on Belarus in June, Borrell said.
