Photo: RAR
7 April – Warsaw – Tensions on the Polish-Belarusian border are rising. Polish Minister of National Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh said that the actions of illegal migrants are coordinated and aggressive, and called it part of a hybrid operation planned by Moscow and Minsk. He said this in an interview with Polsat News.
“This is not a spontaneous migration – it is a planned operation aimed at weakening Poland and the whole of Europe,” the minister stressed.
Aggression at the border
According to the head of the Ministry of Defence, border guards stopped about 300 attempts to break through the border during the night of Friday and Saturday alone. Migrants threw stones, branches, and used grinders to cut through the protective barrier.
“The operation on the Belarusian and Russian sides is intensifying. All of this is an artificially created scenario,” Kosinyak-Kamysh said.
Asylum denial and information campaign
Poland will not consider asylum applications submitted after illegal border crossings. At the same time, the government is preparing an information campaign in seven countries of origin to warn of the risks of participating in manipulations by authoritarian regimes.
Enhanced security
Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak added that the border is under round-the-clock control, both physical and electronic. More than 11,000 employees are responsible for security every day.
A 5.5-metre-high steel barrier is in place along 186 kilometres of the border, complemented by an electronic surveillance system.
Against the backdrop of escalation, the Polish authorities are calling on the EU to respond jointly to the hybrid threat, stressing that the security of the Union’s external border is a shared responsibility.
