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Sunday, 14 November 2021 (YJC)_ The Polish prime minister has called for Nato to take “concrete steps” to solve the migrant crisis on Europe’s border.
The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has called for Nato to take “concrete steps” to solve the migrant crisis on Europe’s border as dozens of asylum seekers reportedly broke through Poland’s border defences with Belarus.
Morawiecki said that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia may ask for consultations under article 4 of the Nato charter, indicating they believe their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.
European countries have warned that the increasingly tense situation on the frontier may lead to a conflict with Belarus, whose president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been accused of encouraging thousands of people from the Middle East to travel to Europe’s borders.
Belarus and its main backer, Russia, would likely react angrily to any new deployment of Nato troops to eastern Europe. This week Russia dispatched nuclear-capable bombers and paratroopers on training missions to Belarus as the countries tested their joint air defences.
Lukashenko, the autocratic leader of Belarus, has also vowed to retaliate against new EU sanctions that are due to be announced on Monday.
The sanctions are expected to target Belarusian officials, as well as travel agencies and airlines that have helped ferry migrants to Belarus. European officials have managed to strike deals with a number of airlines to limit flights with migrants to Belarus.
The EU and Belarusian foreign policy chiefs spoke directly about the migrant crisis for the first time on Sunday.
Josep Borrell said he had spoken to foreign minister Vladimir Makei by phone about “the precarious humanitarian situation” at the Belarus-Poland border.
“The current situation is unacceptable and must stop. People should not be used as weapons,” Borrell said in a tweet.
In Belarus’s statement about the conversation, Makei said any sanctions would be “hopeless” and “counter-productive”.
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