Italy's deputy foreign minister Marina Sereni has called for a humanitarian response by the European Union to the plight of thousands of migrants trapped at its borders with Belarus.
"We need to reject the Belarus regime's exploitation of migrants for political aims, while never losing sight of the principle of the saving human lives," Sereni said.
"It is inconceivable for people to die of hunger and thirst on the EU's doorstep," Sereni said in remarks on the sidelines of a Foreign Affairs Council (Development) meeting in Brussels.
Italy believes that Europe must uphold its "humanitarian principles" in responding to the Belarus migrant crisis, Sereni said.
The EU, NATO and the US allege that the influx of mainly Middle Eastern migrants to the Belarus border is being orchestrated by its leader Alexander Lukashenko to destabilise the 27-member bloc in revenge for its sanctions against his autocratic rule.
The EU sanctions were imposed after a widely discredited presidential election in August 2020 and a crackdown by Lukashenko against mass opposition protests over his more-than-27-year rule.
