German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said Russia is likely behind a wave of illegal immigrants from Belarus. He also says the EU has much to do on migrant policy despite numbers being below those of 2015 and 2016.

Seehofer announced further efforts in conjunction with the EU to stop airlines flying migrants and refugees to Belarus. He said Iraq had already agreed to stop such flights by the end of the year, but said the problem had grown, with Belarus now granting visa-free entrance from still more countries, such as Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt and Jordan.

But the minister said the roots of the problem probably did not lie in Belarus itself. He said the German government was of the opinion that the final "key to the problem likely lies in Moscow," on which Belarus is economically dependent. Many in the EU see Russia as having an interest in destabilizing the bloc as far as possible.

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