EU neighbours jointly rebuke Belarus for illegal migrant surge

FILE PHOTO: Polish border patrol officers guard a group of migrants who attempted to cross the border between Belarus and Poland near the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland August 18, 2021. Grzegorz Dabrowski/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS

WARSAW (Reuters) - The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia came together on Saturday to condemn Belarus for allowing migrants to illegally cross its borders into the European Union.

"All European Union member states have a duty to protect borders and to stop illegal entries," read a Polish government statement published after a videoconference of the countries' prime ministers.