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Poland: There may be worse to come in border crisis
Poland’s leader warned on Sunday that the migrant crisis on its border with Belarus could be a prelude to something worse.Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the crisis was far from over, as he toured Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.The EU has accused Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East and pushing them to cross into the EU states, in response to European sanctions.Morawiecki said the situation in Afghanistan could be utilised next:“We know of diplomatic and official contacts of Belarus and Russia with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and there probably will be an attempt to use the crisis in Afghanistan as the next stage of the migration crisis.And the migration crisis is just one part of the great political crisis in which Lukashenko with his real principal – and I think nobody has doubts that this is president Putin – will continue such actions.”Minsk, which denies fomenting the crisis, cleared a migrant camp near the border on Thursday and started to repatriate some people to Iraq.Despite this, Poland’s border guard alleges that Belarus is still transporting hundreds of migrants to the frontier.Poland’s leader says things could escalate, pointing to an increased Russian military presence close to Ukraine, as well as in Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave which borders Poland and Lithuania.A recent poll shows that more than half of Poles are worried the crisis on the border could lead to an armed conflict.Hundreds took to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday to demand help for the migrants.About 10 migrants are believed to have died on the Poland-Belarus border, where a frigid winter has set in.
