Countries bordering Belarus have warned the migrant crisis on the European Union’s eastern borders could escalate into a military confrontation.
Belarus has been accused of sending primarily Middle Eastern refugees to the EU’s border in an attempt to destabilise the bloc in retaliation for sanctions.
The document addressed to obstetricians comes in reaction to the hospital death of a 30-year-old mother whose 22-week pregnancy had medical problems.
A Constitutional Tribunal,under the sway of Poland’s conservative ruling party,ruled last year that abortions for congenital defects were not constitutional.
Though Warsaw and Brussels have been at loggerheads since Poland’s Law and Justice came to power in 2015,they are now on a full collision course.
The Polish government accuses Belarus of encouraging people from the Middle East and Africa to migrate in large numbers into the EU by entering Poland.
Olga Safronova follows Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who defected to Poland last month after she said coaches had ordered her to fly home from Olympics.
Poland accuses Alexander Lukashenko,the Belarusian president,of masterminding the crisis to punish it for offering a safe haven for Belarusian dissidents.
Athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak were removed from the athletes’ village over the case of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who is now in Poland.
The apparent Cold War-style defection of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has been one of the major stories of the Olympic Games and could further isolate Belarus.
Poland says the country’s laws trump those laid down by Brussels in row that opens door to quitting the European Union.