Amid the ongoing crisis at borders of Poland and Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has threatened to cut deliveries of gas to Europe via a major pipeline as a promise to retaliate against any new EU sanctions imposed on Belarus.

“We are heating Europe; they are still threatening us that they will close the border. And if we shut off natural gas there? Therefore, I would recommend that the Polish leadership, Lithuanians and other headless people think before speaking,” Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko also claimed that there had been attempts to smuggle weapons from east Ukraine to those on the border in an attempt to “provoke our border guards into a conflict with theirs”. However, no evidence for such claims were provided by him.

Some neighbouring countries of Belarus issued a joint warning the crisis could slip into military conflict. Ukraine said it would deploy 8,500 more troops and police to reinforce its border with southern Belarus, while Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia said Lukashenko’s regime posed serious threats to European security by deliberately escalating its “hybrid attack” of weaponising the migrant crisis.

“This increases the possibility of provocations and serious incidents that could also spill over into the military domain,” a joint statement by the countries’ defence ministers said.

Poland has already warned the same. According to reports by Poland, there had been 468 illegal attempts to cross the border on Wednesday.

Meanwhile thousands marched to mark Poland’s Independence Day and called for the government to prevent migrants from entering the country illegally. The city government had banned the march but orders were denied by the national government, which is dominated by the conservative Law and Justice party.

Polish authorities have announced a state of emergency in the border region that allows police to ignore asylum requests and summarily expel migrants. It also prevents NGOs and journalists from entering the border zone. As punishment for Belarus’ actions, the EU is expected to sanction up to 30 Belarusian individuals and entities, possibly including the national air carrier Belavia.

Image Courtesy: Pakkikabar