Europe must resist Belarus migrants' 'blackmail', Austria says

FILE PHOTO: A migrant woman carries a child as they exit a tent outside the transport and logistics centre near the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus November 21, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

BRUZGI, Belarus/WARSAW (Reuters) -Europe must not be blackmailed into accepting thousands of migrants stranded on its border with Belarus, Austria said, after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pressed the bloc to let them in after months of growing tension.

Lukashenko, who denies European Union allegations he fomented the crisis, said he did not want a cross-border clash as that could lead to war, while reiterating that the EU should accept some migrants while Belarus repatriates others.