34 Thursday November 11 2021 | the times
Wo r l d
closer integration between the two
former Soviet republics. After talks in
Moscow with Sergey Lavrov, the Rus-
sian foreign minister, Makei said: “Any
deployment of troops will lead to
adequate retaliatory measures... as
provided for by the military doctrine.”
Lavrov said that Russia had not
received any official requests to medi-
ate in the border crisis. He was speaking
as the two countries’ foreign ministries
agreed to establish closer ties to
counter “the increased unfriendly
rhetoric” by western countries.
In what appeared to be a show of
support for President Lukashenko of
Belarus, two nuclear-capable Tu-22M3
bombers flew in a test of the joint airA federal judge has rejected Donald
Trump’s claim of executive privilege,
dealing another blow to his attempts to
keep secret White House records on
the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
“Presidents are not kings,” Judge
Tanya Chutkan wrote in a 39-page rul-
ing, dismissing the former president’s
attempt to block release of the records
from the National Archive.
“And plaintiff is not president,” she
added, deferring to President Biden’s
right to release the files.
Trump has tried to undermine the
investigation into the storming of the
Capitol, when his supporters tried to
prevent Congress from confirming
Biden’s election victory. Claiming exec-
utive privilege, he launched legal action
however, have denied claims that they
escorted migrants to the bor-
der. They warned that send-
ing more troops could pro-
voke a military escalation.
Vladimir Makei, the
Belarusian foreign minis-
ter, said that any deploy-
ment of Nato forces to
the border would lead
to a response from
Russia and Belarus.
Moscow has long
been pushing forRussia sent strategic bombers over
Belarus yesterday as the EU prepared
to impose further sanctions on Minsk
for creating a migrant crisis on the
border with Poland.
Dozens of people broke into Poland
through three points on the tightly
guarded frontier, piling pressure on
Brussels to approve extra funding for a
wall to be built along the EU’s eastern
edge.
The EU accused Belarus of acting
like a “gangster” by luring migrants
from the Middle East, Afghanistan and
Africa and helping them to storm into
Poland. Warsaw said that Russia was
behind the operation.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime
minister of Poland, said yesterday: “We
are dealing with a manifestation of
state terrorism.” He sent about 15,000
soldiers to reinforce the border zone.
President Biden and Ursula von der
Leyen, the European Commission
president, held discussions at the White
House about the situation. Von der
Leyen said: “We absolutely share the
assessment that this is the hybrid attack
of an authoritarian regime to try to
destabilise democratic neighbours and
this will not succeed.”
EU ambassadors drew up a blacklist
of individuals and companies
blamed for the migrant surge.
Charles Michel, the European
Council president,
said in Warsaw:
“The sanctions
have already
been pro-
posed. We
want to co-
ordinate this
with our
member
states.”
Russia and
Belarus,
Russian bombers back
Belarus in border fight
Trump fails to keep Capitol riot records a secret
Aminata Diallo, left, has been arrestedSuu Kyi’s
Two senior political allies of Aung San
Suu Kyi have been sentenced to up to
90 years in prison in Myanmar in the
latest effort by the junta to eliminate
influential opponents.
Nang Khin Htwe Myint, 67, the de-
posed chief minister of Kayin state and
a senior leader of Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD), was
jailed for a total of 75 years for six offen-
ces of corruption. Than Naing, 65, the
state’s former planning minister, was
given a 90-year sentence for similar
charges of misappropriating state funds.
The two were among scores of NLD
members, including Suu Kyi, who were
arrested on February 1 when the army,
led by Senior General Min Aung Hla-
ing, seized power, following the humili-Myanmar
Richard Lloyd Parry Asia Editorfomenting the violence that followed.
The day before the riot, Bannon
warned that “all hell is going to break
loose” the next day.
The House of Representatives panel
wants to examine almost 800 pages
of White House phone and visitor
records, along with schedules and
notes from senior staff, to build a clear-
er picture of Trump’s actions before and
during the riot.
After urging his supporters to march
on the Capitol, Trump reportedly re-
sisted pleas to rein in the mob for more
than three hours as violence broke out.
At least five people died and Congress
was evacuated in the riot.
Judge Chutkan noted the House
panel and the Justice Department be-
lieved that “coming to terms with the
causes underlying the January 6 attack
is a matter of... public importance”.last month to block the release of
documents from the days leading up to
the attack and its aftermath. His former
aides have been pressured not to co-
operate with the investigation.
Biden has waived his right to block
the release of the papers. In her
judgment on Tuesday evening, Judge
Chutkan of the US district court for
Columbia confirmed that the presi-
dent’s authority outweighed his prede-
cessor’s right to keep material secret.
She wrote that Trump’s position ap-
peared to be “premised on the notion
that his executive power ‘exists in per-
petuity’ ”. She added: “It is the incum-
bent president who is best situated to
protect executive branch interests.”
Lawyers for Trump have launched an
appeal against the ruling in a further
bid to stall the release of the papers.
Trump is expected to continue oppos-ing the investigation for months, with
an eye on the midterm elections next
year, when Republicans could take
back control of both houses of Con-
gress, bringing an almost certain halt to
the investigation.
The judgment, however, is a boost to
the committee investigating the Capi-
tol attack, however, which has strug-
gled to get key witnesses to testify. The
former president has urged former
White House aides and officials not to
comply with subpoenas from the panel.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief
strategist, has been cited for criminal
contempt and could face up to a year in
jail for refusing to answer questions
from the committee.
Bannon is accused of advising Trump
that blocking the certification vote in
Congress was his best hope of over-
turning his election defeat and ofUnited States
Hugh Tomlinson Washington
defences of Belarus and Russia, the
Russian defence ministry said.
The EU accused Minsk of “human
trafficking”. Lukashenko, 67, told Rus-
sian media, however, that “mafia”
gangs were to blame for bringing the
migrants to the EU’s eastern flank.
“All this is clearly organised,” he said.
“Belarus is only a stage in this and abso-
lutely not the main one.”
The president said that the migrant
crisis had its roots in western military
campaigns in the Middle East and
North Africa. He criticised the West for
having “destroyed” Libya and Iraq, as
well as “killing” Gaddafi and Saddam,
whom he described as “the greatest
thinkers”.
Russia accused the EU of betraying
its humanitarian values and trying to
“strangle” Belarus, closing its borders.
Poland has been criticised for refus-
ing to accept migrants’ applications for
asylum. But its leaders said that their
actions were legal. Footage was re-
leased showing further violence from
Belarusian soldiers, who appear to be
hitting migrants and shooting in the air.
The situation escalated on Monday
when the trickle of migrants turned
into a larger state-orchestrated torrent.
About 800 people have camped out
in the cold near a barbed-wire fence
close to the Polish town of Kuznica.
Groups have tried to breach the border.
“The modus operandi of those at-
tacking the border is a little different
now,” Mariusz Blaszczak, 52, Poland’s
defence minister, said. “Two days ago
we had one large group... we now have
smaller, albeit numerous groups,
attacking the border in parallel, in a few
places.” He confirmed that the
migrants had been pushed back.
Polish ministers say that the EU
should help to pay for its £300 million
border wall project. Brussels initially
rejected the proposal.
Michel has moved to overrule Brus-
sels, however, to allow EU funding for a
wall. He said during his visit to Warsaw
that he would examine “infrastructure
and the possibilities of their financing”.Belarus
Maria Wilczek Warsaw
Marc Bennetts Moscow
Bruno Waterfield Brussels Q&A
Why is the border crisis
happening now?
Since summer Belarus
has responded to
European Union
sanctions by
encouraging migrants,
primarily from the
Middle East, to fly to
Minsk and cross into
Poland, Latvia and
Lithuania. As the
volume of migration
has increased and
frontiers tightened, the
situation has become
more tense.How great is the risk of
armed conflict?
Belarusian troops have
been reported to have
made brief raids into
Poland as well as
attempts to fire flares at
their counterparts.
Poland has sentthousands of soldiers to
reinforce its border.
Some EU leaders are
worried about the risk
of clashes. Neither side
has an interest in a
border war but there is
a danger of skirmishes.What does Belarus’s
dictator have to gain?
For President
Lukashenko the
confrontation is a
welcome diversion from
his troubles at home,
where his regime has
suppressed a vigorous
pro-democracy
movement. It is also lets
him discomfit his
enemies in the EU and
show his importance to
his backers in Moscow.What is Russia’s role?
Poland has accused
President Putin of
engineering the crisis to
rebuild the Russian
empire. This may be
giving him too muchcredit. There is as yet no
conclusive evidence
that the pressure on the
EU’s eastern borders
stems from Russia. Yet
the Kremlin is certainly
enjoying the chaos.What options does the
EU have?
Further sanctions seem
inevitable. These are
likely to include asset
freezes and travel bans
for Lukashenko’s inner
circle, as well as
measures to stop
airlines flying migrants
to Belarus. Brussels is
also trying to negotiate
with the migrants’ main
countries of origin. The
EU may stop short of
funding Poland’s border
wall but it is expected to
tolerate tougher
defensive measures on
its eastern frontiers.
Russia has suggested
payments to Belarus to
keep out the migrants.
That is improbable.Families of migrants
were camped in the
cold on the border