The belarusan dictator Alexander Lukashenko has said he does not want confrontation with Poland, but has in the strongest terms warned the EU that unless they take in 2,000 migrants they could face a “catastrophic war.”
Lukashenko said on Monday that tensions could escalate as there are thousands of migrants and refugees and the Belarus President is demanding that Poland shows they are “not barbarians.”
Minsk has been accused of flying in thousands of migrants from the Middle East by the EU and Belarus are shipping thousands by buses to the border and trying to push them into Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in response to European sanctions.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki gave a grave warning that the crisis on their border could prelude to “something much worse” as Belarus are still shipping migrants to the border.
Belarus who own Belta news agency quoted the dictator, and warned, “We need to get through to the Poles, to every Pole, and show them that we’re not barbarians, that we don’t want confrontation.
“We don’t need it.
“Because we understand that if we go too far, war is unavoidable.
“And that will be a catastrophe.
“We understand this perfectly well.
“We don’t want any kind of flare-up.”
Poland has threatened to close the train link between the two countries and divert them through the conflict zone in the Ukraine, to which Lukashenko warned that “could backfire.”
The European Commission has rejected Lukashenko’s demands that they should take in 2,000 migrants who are currently in Belarus.
The Belarusan dictator insisted on Monday that Germany must take in a couple of thousand migrants and has complained to the EU over the matter.
Lukashenko blasted, “I’m waiting for the EU to answer.
“They don’t even look at it (the problem). And even what she (Angela Merkel) promised me, contacts.
“They are not even getting in touch.”
Belarus military has been accused by Poland of terrifying migrants on the border and are becoming “more and more aggressive” towards them.
The spokesman for Poland’s Security Services, Stanislaw Zaryn wrote on Twitter,”Groups are making such attempts and Belarusian officials are becoming more and more aggressive.”
A Polish Border Force spokesman warned last week that “Our forces are ready for action,” as more than 15,000 troops were sent to the border as tensions are escalating.