Belarus summons Poland's military attache over migrant border crisis

Belarus' Defense Ministry summoned Poland's military attache, on Tuesday afternoon, over the thousands of migrants who have amassed on the border between the two European countries, the department announced on its Twitter account.

Colonel Jaroslaw Kembrowski, who is attached to Poland's embassy in Belarus, was called in over the escalating crisis. Warsaw blames the situation on Minsk, accusing Alexander Lukashenko's government of "weaponising" asylum seekers. 

“The Polish military attache was told that the Polish side's accusations that Belarusian military is responsible for the migrant crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus are baseless and illegal,” the ministry's press service told Belta news, adding that they are concerned about the number of Polish troops amassing at the border.

Poland deployed 12,000 soldiers to the area after a crisis meeting on Monday. Warsaw has accused Belarus of hostile actions by pushing the migrants towards the shared frontier. 

An estimated 3,000-4,000 migrants have already gathered on the Belarusian side, accordig to reports. Over 10,000 more are believed to be elsewhere in Belarus and are also preparing to cross into Poland, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller claimed to reporters on Monday.

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