Kommersant: Lukashenko threatened to cut off gas transit to Europe

"We heat Europe, they also threaten to close the border. And if we cut off natural gas there?" - said Mr. Lukashenko at a meeting with the government (quoted by the state agency BelTA).- So I would recommend the leadership of Poland, Lithuanians and other headless people to think before they speak. But this is their business. If they close it, let them do so. But the Foreign Ministry must warn everyone in Europe: if only they impose additional sanctions, "undigestible" and "unacceptable" for us, we must respond. We agreed with you six months ago, how to answer. According to the President of Belarus, the answer could also be to block the transit passage. "What if we close the transit through Belarus? It won't go through Ukraine: the Russian border is closed there, there are no roads through the Baltics. If we close it for Poles and, for example, for Germans, what will happen then? "We mustn't stop at nothing, defending our sovereignty and independence," said Alexander Lukashenko. European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni reacted to Mr. Lukashenko's statement. "As for gas supply, we have to make maximum use of our relations with the countries-providers: Africa, Norway, Russia. And we will not allow Lukashenko to intimidate us with his threats," he said at a press conference in Brussels (quoted by TASS). German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, speaking in the Bundestag, said the EU would go for tougher sanctions. "No one can get away with participating in this network of transporting illegal migrants. "This is a signal to transit countries, the states of origin of migrants and airlines that carry migrants to Belarus," he said (quoted by TASS). He added that a decision on sanctions against "Lukashenko's regime" will be taken on Monday, November 15. He mentioned restrictions on the supply of Belarusian potash among the possible options. The day before, after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Chairperson of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU would expand sanctions against Belarus next week. According to her, the U.S. has also prepared sanctions against Belarus, which will come into force in early December. A migration crisis arose on the border between Belarus and some EU countries because of the influx of illegal migrants from third world countries. On November 8, the situation escalated: several thousand migrants approached the Polish border from the Belarusian side and did not leave the border area. Two groups managed to break into Poland, but were later detained.