Poland: Border crisis greatest bid to destabilise Europe since Cold War

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, the EU's eastern frontier, the "greatest attempt to destabilise Europe" since the Cold War.

Belarusian President Alexander "Lukashenko launched a hybrid war against the EU. This is (the) greatest attempt to destabilise Europe in 30 years," Morawiecki said on Twitter on Sunday.

"Poland will not yield to blackmail and will do everything to defend the EU's borders."

The premier issued his strong remarks as he visited Estonia on Sunday morning to discuss the crisis with his counterpart Kaja Kallas.

He will travel to Lithuania and Latvia later in the day to discuss the crisis.

The West accuses Belarus of artificially creating the crisis by bringing in would-be migrants, mostly from the Middle East, and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the European Union.

Belarus has denied the claim, instead criticising the EU for not taking in the migrants.

READ MORE: Explained: Migrant crisis on Poland-Belarus border

'Divert attention'

Morawiecki linked to a video statement in which he cautioned that "today the target is Poland, but tomorrow it will be Germany, Belgium, France or Spain."

He also claimed that Lukashenko had the "back-room support of Vladimir Putin," the Russian president and an ally of the Belarusian regime.

Lukashenko told the BBC earlier that it was "absolutely possible" his forces had helped people cross into the EU but denied orchestrating the operation.

Some observers believe Poland is using its rhetoric on the border issue to try to distract from controversial reforms that the EU believes limit the independence of the judiciary.

"While the problem on Poland's border is serious and requires Western solidarity, for example by sanctioning Belarus, Morawiecki blows it out of proportion to divert attention from Poland's violation of the rule of law," political expert Marcin Zaborowski said.

On Sunday, Poland's border guards reported new attempted crossings, including by a "very aggressive group of around 100" migrants.

Polish media say at least 11 migrants have died since the crisis began over the summer.

READ MORE: Poland detains scores of migrants as hundreds attempt to cross EU border