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Polish PM, France's Macron to discuss Belarus border crisis

24.11.2021 07:30
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is on Wednesday set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, before visiting Slovenia, as he continues his tour of Europe amid a migration crisis on the European Union's border with Belarus.  
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (pictured) is set to meet with French leader Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday, as he continues diplomatic efforts to defuse a migrant crisis on the European Unions border with Belarus.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (pictured) is set to meet with French leader Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday, as he continues diplomatic efforts to defuse a migrant crisis on the European Union's border with Belarus. PAP/Leszek Szymański

Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller tweeted on Tuesday that Morawiecki's meeting with Macron would explore geopolitical challenges for Europe. 

These especially include Belarus and its "hybrid attacks," as well as attempts to "destabilise Europe's gas and energy markets," Müller said.

The Polish prime minister's visit comes after the French leader lent his strong support to Warsaw in its dispute with Minsk, public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.

Last week, Macron held telephone conversations with both Morawiecki and Poland's President Andrzej Duda, according to officials in Warsaw. 

Diplomatic offensive

Over the past few days, Polish leaders have stepped up their diplomatic efforts to garner international support as Warsaw strives to fix the migration crisis on its frontier with Belarus.

As part of this offensive, Morawiecki on Sunday visited the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, before taking part in a summit of the regional Visegrad Group on Tuesday.

Following the meeting at the Élysée Palace, the Polish prime minister is set to travel to Slovenia, which currently presides over the European Union. There, Morawiecki will speak to his counterpart Janez Janša later on Wednesday, the IAR news agency reported.

"Issues such as the difficult geopolitical situation, cyber attacks, threats on the energy market and artificial migration flows - all these require coordination and joint action," the Polish government spokesman tweeted ahead of the meeting.

On Thursday, the Morawiecki is due to be hosted in Berlin by Germany's outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, news outlets said.

Morawiecki visits Croatia

Meanwhile, after Tuesday's V4 summit, Morawiecki visited Croatia to meet with his counterpart Andrej Plenković, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

At a joint news conference there, the Polish prime minister told reporters that Warsaw would continue its "diplomatic efforts to defuse the tension and seek the best possible solution" to the migrant crisis.

He added that thanks to Poland's international offensive, "the influx of new migrants from the Middle East has already been practically stopped."        

Morawiecki extended his "heartfelt thanks" to Croatia for "being on the same wavelength" with Poland, supporting Warsaw-led projects such as the Three Seas Initiative and sending its soldiers to Poland as part of a NATO contingent. 

The months-long migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has escalated in recent weeks, with Poland, the European Union and its member states, as well as NATO and the United States accusing Belarus strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the standoff in retaliation for Western sanctions against his regime.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info