EU to tighten visa rules for Belarus officials over migrants

FILE PHOTO: Polish border guard officers stand 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/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will tighten visa rules for Belarusian state officials, Europe's migration commissioner said on Wednesday, in retaliation for what she called Minsk's aggressive effort to destabilise the bloc by pushing in irregular migrants.

The EU accuses President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating a sharp rise in migrant arrivals across the Belarus border with bloc members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The increase happened after the 27-nation union slapped sanctions on Minsk over human rights abuses and an election widely deemed rigged.