Sharjah 24 – AFP: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Sunday called the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, the EU's eastern frontier, the "greatest attempt to destabilise Europe" since the Cold War.
The premier made the remarks as he prepared to meet EU leaders at a time when Warsaw is facing not only a border crisis but heightened tensions with Brussels over allegations it is breaching its commitment to the bloc's democratic principles.
The West accuses Belarus of creating the crisis by bringing in would-be migrants -- mostly from the Middle East -- and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the European Union.
Belarus has denied the claim, instead criticising the EU for not taking in the migrants.
Caught in the middle, migrants often report being forced to cross the border by Belarusian officials, then pushed back into Belarus by Polish authorities.
Morawiecki tweeted that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had "launched a hybrid war against the EU. This is (the) greatest attempt to destabilise Europe in 30 years".
"Poland will not yield to blackmail and will do everything to defend the EU's borders," he said.
He linked to a video statement in which he warned that "today the target is Poland, but tomorrow it will be Germany, Belgium, France or Spain".
He also claimed that Lukashenko had the "backroom support" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lukashenko told the BBC earlier that it was "absolutely possible" his forces had helped people cross into the EU but denied orchestrating the operation.
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