EU mulling ways to end jet lease to Belarus’ airline

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — European Union foreign ministers looked at ways on Monday to stop the illegal migration into the 27-nation bloc from neighboring Belarus, including stopping companies from leasing jets to Belarusian airline Belavia.

The EU has accused the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of facilitating migration into the bloc in retaliation for EU sanctions. Thousands of migrants have been lured to Belarus on tourist visas and encouraged to cross into Poland, Lithuania and to a lesser extent Latvia — all three of which are EU nations that border Belarus.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after the meeting that the bloc is ready to adopt sanctions against Belavia.

“Using migrants for political purposes is not acceptable," Borrell said.

The migration numbers began increasing a year ago after the EU slapped sanctions on Lukashenko’s government over the August 2020 presidential election, which the West views as rigged, and the security crackdown on the Belarusian opposition and peaceful protesters that followed.

“Even though the situation seems under control, the flows are actually not diminishing,” Lithuanian foreign affairs minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said. “What tools do countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Poland need to use, or can use, in order to stop the weaponized migration that is being forced on the European Union?”

Landsbergis said the EU needs to find an efficient way to stop new flights from North Africa and Middle East from flying to Minsk.

“The European Union did take some steps that proved to be quite useful: stopping the flights from Iraq, and stopping the flights from Jordan and Lebanon. But there are a number new flights that are being opened up to fly to Minsk."

Landsbergis asked for sanctions on Lukashenko for...