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Russia, Belarus working 'hand in hand' to destabilize Central Europe, Polish deputy FM tells CNN

19.11.2021 06:45
Vladimir Putin's Russia and Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus are working hand in hand to destabilize security in Central Europe, a Polish deputy foreign minister has told CNN amid a migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Photo:
Photo:twitter.com/Straz_Graniczna

Putin and Lukashenko work hand in hand in destabilizing security in central Europe,” Paweł Jabłoński said in an interview with the US broadcaster earlier this week.

"This must be recognized and this must be reacted to very firmly,” he added.

Jabłoński told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that illegal migrants throwing stones and stun grenades at Polish border forces were not "defenceless refugees," but aggressive individuals who had been lured into Belarus by the Lukashenko regime in the false hope of reaching the European Union.

"We cannot allow that to happen," Jabłoński said during the interview.

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

Polish lawmakers on Wednesday backed a government plan to strengthen the country's borders amid the migrant crisis on its frontier with Belarus.

Prosecutors this week opened an investigation into an attack on Polish border guards, police officers and soldiers staged from across the border with Belarus by rock-throwing assailants, Poland's police chief told reporters.

(gs)

Source: PAP