According to the Czech defense ministry, Poland has agreed to accept the Czech Republic’s offer of assistance on the Belarusian border. Negotiations will now begin on the specific ways in which the Czech Republic could help Poland in dealing with the migration crisis.
“On Friday we received a positive response from the Polish side to President Zeman’s official offer to provide assistance in managing the migration crisis,” said Jakub Fajnor from the press department of the defense ministry.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) also confirmed Poland’s positive response to President Milos Zeman’s official offer. He commented that the Czech Republic is ready to negotiate with the Polish government. In his opinion, the most likely form of assistance is the deployment of army engineers. However, the use of army personnel and resources would require the approval of Parliament.
Poland has faced pressure on its border with Belarus since the spring, but the migration crisis escalated in the autumn. Poland, the Baltic, and other EU countries accuse the regime of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko of luring migrants from crisis areas into their country and then sending them to the bloc’s borders.