Czech Republic Ready to Help Poland Bilaterally Amid Border Crisis - Foreign Minister

PRAGUE (Sputnik) - The Czech Republic is ready to provide assistance to Poland amid the migrant crisis on the border with Belarus, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said.

"I spoke with my Polish colleague @RauZbigniew. We discussed the dire situation on Poland-Belarus border. I expressed our solidarity with Poland and reiterated our readiness to help bilaterally if need be," Kulhanek said on Twitter on Sunday.

He added that the border crisis will be discussed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on Monday.

On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border with the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania. On Sunday, Borrell held a telephone conversation with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei discussing the issue. The Belarusian side reiterated its readiness for mutually respectful dialogue with the EU and emphasized that sanctions are counter-productive.

Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik said on Saturday that Minsk does not see the European Union making any serious efforts to hold dialogue with Belarus to resolve the ongoing migrant crisis.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have been urging the European Union to fund the construction of a wall at the Belarusian border and have been accusing Belarus of orchestrating the migrant crisis to get back at Brussels for sanctions against the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian leader has rejected the accusations, saying that his cash-strapped country can no longer afford tight border controls.

Within the past few weeks, thousands of migrants including women and children willing to enter the EU have arrived at the Polish-Belarusian border. Poland boosted border guard and deployed the military to the border region.