Lukashenko has got the ear of the EU at last –but it won’t help him

The Belarusian leader may have won phone talks with Angela Merkel but Europe remains united against him

As migrants camped out in the woods prepared for another night of sub-zero temperatures, the Estonian foreign minister, Eva-Maria Liimets, on Tuesday revealed to an evening news programme the gist of what Alexander Lukashenko demanded of Angela Merkel in the first call between a European leader and Belarus's dictator in more than a year.

He wants the sanctions to be halted, [and] to be recognised as head of state so he can continue," she said he told Merkel.