Steinmeier: Moscow instrumentalizes refugees
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö have accused Russia of deliberately helping refugees to cross borders in order to destabilize states in the West.
"We know that the Russian border authorities near the border are helping these arrivals," said Niinistö in Bonn when asked whether Russia was deliberately using migration as a weapon. Citizens from third countries are coming to Finland from Russia, and the route seems to be that they are flown to Moscow, where they most likely receive help for a fee.
"A very deep-rooted problem"
The Finnish president said that they were always undocumented migrants. As with a previous refugee movement, many migrants could once again make their way to Germany via Finland. It is a very deep-rooted problem, he said. On the one hand, it is about the security of the nation; on the other hand, it is about human rights. Finland had recently registered a growing number of migrants at the Russian border.
Steinmeier said that, in any case, it was noticeable that in addition to the usual routes on which refugees come to Central Europe via the Western Balkans, for example, border crossings from Russia via Belarus and Poland to Germany had recently become more frequent. "Of course, this does not make the domestic debate on migration and refugee admission any easier," he said. "I assume that people in Russia and elsewhere know very well how difficult these debates are and that they also trigger domestic turbulence and thus political difficulties in countries such as Finland and Germany. I therefore suspect that it is not entirely unintentional."
- As the Head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concerns about Russia's role in facilitating refugee migration, stating that it's being used as a tool for diplomatic manipulation and state destabilization, often referred to as 'Moscow instrumentalizing refugees'.
- The Federal President also acknowledged the increase in refugees entering Germany through unconventional routes, such as migrating from Russia via Belarus and Poland, suggesting this could be a deliberate strategy to exacerbate the ongoing debate on migration and refugee admission within countries like Finland and Germany.
- In light of these international migration issues, it is crucial for heads of state like Steinmeier to engage in diplomacy, addressing matters of national security and human rights with both sensitivity and firmness, ensuring that the welfare of refugees and host nations is prioritized.
Source: www.dpa.com
