Migrants: Warsaw denounces "the biggest attempt to destabilize the EU in 30 years"
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during a press conference in Vilnius, November 21, 2021. © AFP - PETRAS MALUKAS
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Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the three Baltic countries this Sunday to talk about the migrant crisis caused by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
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In Vilnius, Tallinn and Riga, the Polish Prime Minister therefore came to show that the four heads of government are on the same wavelength as regards the response to be given to the crisis, underlines our correspondent in Lithuania,
Marielle Vitureau.
.
Mateusz Morawiecki hammered it out: this is the start of a long crisis orchestrated by the Belarusian leader and perhaps the Kremlin.
"
Today, the target is Poland, but tomorrow, it will be Germany, Belgium, France or Spain
", he said, denouncing "
the support from behind of Vladimir Poutine
", the Russian President to his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.
He cites as proof the situation which is straining in Ukraine with the relocation of Russian military detachments to its borders or the pressure on Moldova to provoke an energy crisis.
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"
On the eastern border of Poland, we are facing a new type of war, a war in which migrants are weapons, disinformation is a weapon, a hybrid war
" against the European Union launched by Alexander Lukachenko, a denounced the head of the Polish government.
On Twitter, Mateusz Morawiecki went further: “
This is the biggest attempt to destabilize Europe for 30 years.
Poland will not give in to blackmail and will do everything to defend the EU's borders.
"
Lukashenka launched a hybrid war against the EU. This is greatest attempt to destabilize Europe in 30years.
🇵🇱will not yield to blackmail and will do everything to defend the EU's borders.
PL, LT, LV, EST need support.We must stand together to defend Europehttps: //t.co/OMEtY70vlo
- Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) November 21, 2021
For this "
hybrid war
" to end, pressure must be stepped up on Belarus, but above all and again, the countries concerned must not stay away from decisions, said Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte for her part.
Since November 9, his country has declared a state of emergency along the border.
In Estonia, to deal with any eventuality, more than 1,500 army reservists were called up for a week of exercises.
►
To read also: In the migratory crisis, Poland denounces the new "method" of Belarus
To divert attention
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, November 19 with a possible suspension of European funds.
In Lithuania, Mateusz Morawiecki called on Europe “
not to let the issues that are currently being discussed between us and Brussels overshadow the huge real risk that looms on the horizon
”.
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 problem at the border is serious and requires solidarity from Western Europe, but Mr.
Morawiecki 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.
►
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International Migration
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