Belarus Weaponizes Migrants to Target European Union

Podcast Deep Dish on Global Affairs Podcast
Does President Lukashenka's decision to let migrants back over the border into Belarus mean the crisis is over?
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At least 2,000 Middle Eastern migrants spent weeks trapped at checkpoints between Belarus and Poland—unable to legally enter the European Union and, until today, unable to return to Belarus or go home. Former US Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried joins host Brian Hanson on Deep Dish to explain how Belarus’ strongman President Lukashenka weaponized these migrants as a tool of “hybrid war,”  and why Russia’s President Putin looms behind this crisis—and others—on Europe’s doorstep.

About the Experts
Daniel Fried
Former US Ambassador to Poland
Daniel Fried is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, a former US coordinator for sanctions policy during the Trump and Obama administrations, a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs during the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, and a former US ambassador to Poland.
Brian Hanson
Former Vice President, Studies
Brian Hanson headshot
Brian Hanson served as the vice president of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He managed the Council's research operations and hosted the Council's weekly podcast, Deep Dish on Global Affairs.
Brian Hanson headshot
Issues Migration Defense and Security Global Politics
Regions Eastern Europe Europe Russia
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