EU official: No dealing with ‘desperate’ Lukashenko

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The European Union’s home affairs commissioner says the 27-member bloc stands firm on its regime of sanctions against Belarus’ authoritarian president who’s “pushing” migrants into the EU out of “desperation.” EU commissioner Ylva  Johansson said Tuesday that President Alexander Lukashenko “can’t really deal” with the sanctions and is bringing migrants into his country “for the only purpose” of sending them into the EU in retaliation. Johannson said after talks on Tuesday with Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris that Lukashenkno “is not a partner we are ready to cooperate with.” Poland and Lithuania have been receiving an unusual number of Middle Eastern and African migrants and refugees arriving from neighboring Belarus in recent months.