Polish PM accuses Russia in tense border standoff

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated on Tuesday that Poland's security was being "violated in a very brutal way" amid the migration border standoff with Belarus.

Morawiecki made the statement during a special session of the Polish parliament.

He described the border pressure as part of an effort by Russia to disrupt a region it controlled during the Soviet era three decades ago.

Poland reinforced its border with Belarus with more riot police on Tuesday, a day after groups of migrants tried to storm through a razor-wire fence on the eastern frontier where thousands have camped on the Belarusian side in the tense standoff.

The European Union accuses Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of using the migrants as pawns in a “hybrid attack” against the bloc in retaliation for imposing sanctions on the authoritarian government for a brutal internal crackdown on dissent.

Polish authorities said all was calm overnight on the border - which is also the eastern edge of the 27-nation EU - but they were bracing for any possibility.

The Defense Ministry said a large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrant encampments.

IMAGE: AP