٠٠:٠٢:٠٩The German foreign minister Heiko Maas said that new sanctions should be imposed on the Belarusian government, such as against the domestic potash (potassium carbonate) industry, during a speech in the Bundestag in Berlin on Thursday.
Maas said that the approaching winter was of concern for the refugees and that a European solution needed to be reached soon.
He accused the Belarusian government of "abusing thousands of people as hostages for a cynical power play and they want to put pressure on the European Union and individual migrant states such as Poland in particular, but also Lithuania, and they are playing with human lives."
Green Party member Dr Franziska Brantner stated that the people on the Polish-Belarusian border should not be seen as a weapon or a means of pressure, despite political disputes.
""Lukashenko instrumentalises people by flying them in from Damascus, Dubai or Istanbul or Moscow. Yes, he is instrumentalising them - but nevertheless these people are not weapons, they are not bargaining chips, they are human beings with their dignity," she said.
Tensions between the EU and Belarus have been escalating in recent months, with the EU accusing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately sending migrants to the border in response to sanctions imposed by the EU.
Earlier Lukashenko had stated that he would weaken control over migration at the borders with Western countries.
EU ambassadors agreed on Wednesday that Belarus migrant 'hybrid attack' is a legal basis for a new round of sanctions for Minsk.
Germany: FM Maas calls for further sanctions on Belarusian government
The German foreign minister Heiko Maas said that new sanctions should be imposed on the Belarusian government, such as against the domestic potash (potassium carbonate) industry, during a speech in the Bundestag in Berlin on Thursday.
Maas said that the approaching winter was of concern for the refugees and that a European solution needed to be reached soon.
He accused the Belarusian government of "abusing thousands of people as hostages for a cynical power play and they want to put pressure on the European Union and individual migrant states such as Poland in particular, but also Lithuania, and they are playing with human lives."
Green Party member Dr Franziska Brantner stated that the people on the Polish-Belarusian border should not be seen as a weapon or a means of pressure, despite political disputes.
""Lukashenko instrumentalises people by flying them in from Damascus, Dubai or Istanbul or Moscow. Yes, he is instrumentalising them - but nevertheless these people are not weapons, they are not bargaining chips, they are human beings with their dignity," she said.
Tensions between the EU and Belarus have been escalating in recent months, with the EU accusing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately sending migrants to the border in response to sanctions imposed by the EU.
Earlier Lukashenko had stated that he would weaken control over migration at the borders with Western countries.
EU ambassadors agreed on Wednesday that Belarus migrant 'hybrid attack' is a legal basis for a new round of sanctions for Minsk.
The German foreign minister Heiko Maas said that new sanctions should be imposed on the Belarusian government, such as against the domestic potash (potassium carbonate) industry, during a speech in the Bundestag in Berlin on Thursday.
Maas said that the approaching winter was of concern for the refugees and that a European solution needed to be reached soon.
He accused the Belarusian government of "abusing thousands of people as hostages for a cynical power play and they want to put pressure on the European Union and individual migrant states such as Poland in particular, but also Lithuania, and they are playing with human lives."
Green Party member Dr Franziska Brantner stated that the people on the Polish-Belarusian border should not be seen as a weapon or a means of pressure, despite political disputes.
""Lukashenko instrumentalises people by flying them in from Damascus, Dubai or Istanbul or Moscow. Yes, he is instrumentalising them - but nevertheless these people are not weapons, they are not bargaining chips, they are human beings with their dignity," she said.
Tensions between the EU and Belarus have been escalating in recent months, with the EU accusing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately sending migrants to the border in response to sanctions imposed by the EU.
Earlier Lukashenko had stated that he would weaken control over migration at the borders with Western countries.
EU ambassadors agreed on Wednesday that Belarus migrant 'hybrid attack' is a legal basis for a new round of sanctions for Minsk.