Poland on Sunday called the migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, at the gates of the EU, “the biggest attempt to destabilize Europe” since the Cold War, even as the prime minister leaves for a tour European Union aimed at easing tensions with the EU.
Belarusian President Alexander “Lukashenko has launched a hybrid war against the EU. It is [la] biggest attempt to destabilize Europe in 30 years. Poland will not give in to blackmail and will do everything to defend the EU’s borders, ”Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Twitter.
“Today, the target is Poland, but tomorrow it will be Germany, Belgium, France or Spain”, he added, denouncing “the support from behind of Vladimir Poutine”, the president Russian, to Mr. Lukashenko.
The Polish head of government made these statements as he left for a tour of Europe, in a context of growing tensions with Brussels, which accuses Warsaw of not respecting its commitments on the democratic principles of the EU and threatened Friday with a possible suspension of European funds.
Mr Morawiecki was first scheduled for talks on Sunday with his counterparts in the Baltic states – two of which also border Belarus – before heading to other European capitals this week.
“Today Poland is facing a new type of war, the weapons of which are migrants and disinformation,” he said in Estonia.
In Lithuania, he called on Europe to “not let the problems which are currently being discussed between us and Brussels overshadow the enormous real risk which looms on the horizon”.
Her Lithuanian counterpart Ingrida Simonyte stressed that Europe should “step up the pressure on Minsk”.
To divert attention
Observers believe, however, that Warsaw’s rhetoric on this crisis is primarily intended to distract attention from its reforms, which the EU believes limit the independence of the judiciary.
“It is true that the border problem is serious and requires solidarity from Western Europe, but Mr. Marwiesck is dramatizing things to distract attention from his violation of the rule of law,” he said. political analyst Marcin Zaborowski, political director of the think tank Globsec, told AFP.
As for the importance of this crisis, “we are far from the war in Ukraine”, he added.
The West accuses Belarus of artificially creating the crisis by bringing in potential immigrants – mainly from the Middle East – and bringing them to the border from where they promise easy passage into the EU, in revenge Western sanctions targeting the regime.
Belarus denied the accusation, blaming the EU instead for not welcoming migrants.
“We have heart”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told the BBC on Friday that it was “absolutely possible” that his forces had helped people cross into the EU, but denied orchestrating the operation.
“We are Slavs. We have heart. Our troops know that the migrants are going to Germany… Maybe someone helped them, ”he said. “But I didn’t invite them here.”
Although there are signs that the crisis is easing a bit, Polish border guards on Sunday reported further attempts to cross, including by a “very aggressive group of around 100” migrants.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Saturday that Belarus had changed tactics by directing smaller groups of migrants to several points on the border.
The migrants abandoned everything at home, spending thousands of dollars to travel to Belarus on tourist visas, determined to reach the EU. According to Polish media, at least 11 migrants have died since the crisis began this summer.
On Sunday in Bahoniki, a Polish village near the border, a Yemeni who died of cold and exhaustion while trying to join the EU was buried in the presence of his brother in the small local Muslim cemetery, alongside two other buried migrants earlier in the week.