EU says ‘no question of any negotiation with Lukashenko regime’

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive said on Thursday there could be no negotiation with Belarus over the plight of migrants at its border with Poland and Baltic states, and it was now focused on getting aid to those stuck there and repatriating them.

“There is no question of negotiating with the Lukashenko regime,” European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer told a news briefing. “We will hold technical talks with UN agencies, particularly UNHCR and IOM and the Belarusian counterparts to facilitate the repatriation of people who are at the border,” he said. “That is the focus of the talks as well as, of course, as continuing to try to facilitate aid to people who are at the border.”

Asked about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conversation with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday, Mamer said EU member states “have bilateral contacts with anyone they wish, that is absolutely normal in diplomacy”.