(VOVWORLD) - Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday warned that tensions with Belarus could escalate in the coming days as Poland sends more troops to the border between the two countries to deal with an increasing number of migrants concentrated in this area.
 Poland sends troops to the Poland-Belarus border (Photo: newseu) |
He accused Belarus of trying to spark a major confrontation by encouraging migrants to enter Poland and the EU.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry summoned the Polish military attache to protest what it called “unfounded and unlawful Polish allegations" against the Belarusian military at the border. The Belarusian side noted that strong evidence is required to present such serious claims, otherwise such accusations must be regarded as a provocation.
Lithuania's Government declared a state of emergency at the country's border with Belarus on Tuesday. The state of emergency, which will last a month, allows border guards to prevent migrants from entering Lithuania.
The migration crisis on Belarus's borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where migrants have been flocking since the beginning of the year, became acute on Monday. Thousands of people stormed the border crossing from Belarus into Poland and refused to leave the border area. Some of them managed to get into Polish territory by breaking the barbed-wire border fence.