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Environmentalists appeal against barrier on Poland-Belarus border

An international group of environmental scientists appealed on Tuesday to the European Commission for a halt to the construction of a barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border.

In a letter signed by over 700 scientists and addressed to EC head Ursula von der Leyen, her deputy Frans Timmermans and EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, they pointed out that the barrier could threaten six Natura 2000 areas, including the pristine Bialowieza Forest, which Poland shares with Belarus.

“As scientists and experts in the field of wildlife conservation and management of natural resources, we call on the European Commission to take all possible measures to immediately halt the construction of the wall along the border between Poland and Belarus until an environmental impact assessment of this project on the coherence of the Natura 2000 network is carried out in accordance with European law and nature conservation requirements, and until the project design ensures the minimization and mitigation of the potential impacts on valuable species and natural habitats,” the appeal reads.

Poland decided to build a solid barrier on its border with Belarus last year after months of struggling with mass crossing attempts by migrants from the Belarusian side.

Poland has blamed the crisis on the Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko regime, which it says was offering the mostly Middle-Eastern migrants passage to Belarus under promises of enabling them entry into the EU, and then facilitating their crossing attempts into Poland.

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