EU seeks to tighten Belarus visa rules amid growing migrant crisis

Bloc accuses Lukashenko of incentivising migrants to cross Belarus's border with the EU

The European Commission has said it wants to suspend easy access to visas for Belarusian officials in an attempt to deter it from pushing migrants from the Middle East and Africa across its border with the bloc.

Neighbouring Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have declared states of emergency after a sharp increase in arrivals at their borders with Belarus, accusing the country's dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, of an act of hybrid warfare" in seeking to orchestrate a EU migrant crisis.