Poland: Belarus eyes using Afghan migrants as border pawns

By LIUDAS DAPKUS
Associated Press

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Poland’s prime minister has warned that migrant pressures on the European Union’s border with Belarus could continue, this time with people fleeing from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke Sunday in Vilnius following meetings with the prime ministers of Lithuania and Estonia. He was traveling to the three Baltic states, including Latvia, for talks about joint response to the “very difficult situation.” Poland and the EU say Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime is using migrants from Iraq and Syria as a weapon in a “hybrid attack” aimed at destabilizing the bloc. Morawiecki said Belarus and Russia are talking to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan now, which may mean a new inflow of migrants towards Europe.