Poland can protect its borders, but counts on political support – president

Poland has sufficient resources to protect its eastern border amid the migration crisis sparked by Belarus, but counts on political support from neighbours and the EU, the Polish president said after talks with his Slovak counterpart.

Andrzej Duda was speaking at a press conference in Bratislava on Tuesday following his talks with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova.

"We will do everything to protect the European Union's and Poland's border, to ensure and maintain security, but also, if we only have such a possibility, to offer humanitarian aid to those people (migrants - PAP)," Duda said.

According to Duda, Poland is able to handle the border situation on its own.

"We have sufficient forces and means to physically protect the border," he said. "What we need is support at the political level and we count on support from our neighbours, our allies."

"We really count on support from the European Union and Nato," Duda added.

The Polish president also said Poland was ready to support Lithuania, which is facing similar migration pressure, with necessary infrastructure.

Caputova said she had assured Duda of Slovakia's support in the border crisis, but she also mentioned the need to offer humanitarian aid to migrants.

"The position of the Republic of Slovakia is clear: I expressed support for Poland in this area, but we think that the deteriorating humanitarian situation at the border should be addressed too," Caputova said.

"We are aware that the situation is not simple," she added.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have accused the government of Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, of bringing migrants from the Middle East and Africa, and then pushing them across the EU border in an effort to destabilise the EU in retaliation for sanctions that Brussels has imposed on Minsk.