Belarus may freeze EU refugee accord to due 'unfriendly actions'

FILE PHOTO: Polish border guard officers stand guard next to a group of migrants stranded on the border between Belarus and Poland near the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland September 1, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

KYIV (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's government said on Wednesday it could suspend an accord with the European Union on accepting refugees, as both sides traded blame over a build-up of migrants on the Belarusian border.

Lukashenko has submitted a draft law to parliament to suspend the accord, which obliges Minsk to take back migrants who entered the EU via Belarus but who violated their conditions of stay, entry or residence.