Polish PM says European borders must be secure, calls for unity

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has said during a visit to Rome that the EU must ensure the security of its borders.

Morawiecki was in Italy to meet Mario Draghi, his Italian counterpart.

"Europe must be able to ensure the security of its border," Morawiecki told reporters on Thursday after what he called "long and constructive talks" with Draghi.

"It is very important for the entire North Atlantic Alliance to be on the same wavelength," he added.

Poland has been struggling to stem a wave of migrants trying to cross its eastern border from Belarus. EU members accuse the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, of instigating the crisis in order to destabilise the bloc.

Referring to EU-Russia relations, Morawiecki said that he had told Draghi that EU sanctions, which could be imposed on Russia, "should be feasible."

"Prime Minister Draghi agreed with my opinion," he said.

The Polish prime minister also said Italy was concerned over possible Russian plans to invade Ukraine.

Western countries have said Russia has massed troops on its border with Ukraine in preparation for a possible invasion early next year.

Referring to a planned meeting with Olaf Scholz, the new German chancellor, Morawiecki said that he would try to convince the German politician to rebuff Russian pressure on the Nord Stream 2 issue.

He said that Germany should not let the pipeline become a tool to blackmail Europe, adding that it "should never be built".

Nord Stream 2 is the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline which bypasses Ukraine and endangers, according to its critics, energy security in Eastern Europe. Poland has repeatedly warned that NS2 will make Europe even more dependent on Russian gas and will put Europe at risk of blackmail by Moscow.