EU Ready to Use Bloc's Resources to Protect Polish Border With Belarus at Warsaw's Request

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union welcomes the idea of protecting the bloc's shared border using common resources against the dire situation at the Polish-Belarusian border, but Poland should request them first, Adalbert Jahnz, a European Commission spokesman for home affairs, migration and internal security, said on Friday.

In recent months, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have reported an increasing influx of undocumented migrants trying to cross into the EU from Belarus. Matters worsened earlier this week when Minsk said its State Border Committee officers found an unconscious Iraqi migrant on the border with Poland, who was presumably beaten up and left by the Polish guards.

"When it comes to assistance by Frontex [the European Border and Coast Guard Agency]... from our perspective, it would be a good idea for our shared border to be protected using our shared resources, of course, this is something that... should be requested by Polish authorities," Jahnz told a briefing.

An Ukrainian car enters the European Union on the Polish Ukrainian border in Korczowa, southeast Poland (File)

© AP Photo / Alik Keplicz

Brussels is alarmed by events on the border with Belarus and urges Polish authorities to manage the border in such a way that people there are protected, the spokesman added.

"It is essential for Poland to carry out border management effectively — however, this should not come at the expense of human life, and we urge member state authorities to ensure that people at the borders are given the necessary care and assistance", Jahnz said.

Brussels has repeatedly accused Minsk of contributing to the migration crisis, saying the Belarusian authorities are using migrants as a "hybrid weapon" against the bloc after it imposed sanctions on Minsk. Belarus, in turn, said that it could no longer suppress migration to neighbouring countries due to the lack of resources caused by Western sanctions against the country.