Baltic states back Poland in migrant crisis

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Monday expressed their support of Poland in the most recent escalation of a prolonged migrant crisis on its border to Belarus.

Earlier on Monday, video recordings showed large groups of migrants in Belarus heading for the country's border to Poland in what Poland fears may be a mass attempt to force it.

Reports on Monday evening placed the number of migrants in the border zone at between three and four thousand.

The situation escalates a several-month crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, in which migrants have been trying to enter Poland from Belarus despite their attempts being thwarted by Polish border teams. Poland has blamed the crisis on Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko regime, which it says is deliberately pushing the migrants into Poland in a move to destabilise the EU.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter that his country stands fully behind Poland in the crisis. He also said that he had discussed the situation earlier in the day with Poland's President Andrzej Duda.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkeviczs said the EU had to stand behind Poland in the crisis.

The Estonian foreign ministry wrote on Twitter that Estonia will aid Poland in any way possible. The ministry also voiced concern over the crisis and suggested reinforcements on the EU's outer frontiers.