Situation beyond the eastern border

We cannot let the scenario written in Minsk unfold. Lithuania and Poland defend the European Union’s eastern border together and seek to elicit a joint response of Europe and the world to the threat created by the Belarusian regime,” emphasised the deputy chief of Polish diplomacy during his talks with the Lithuanian partners.

On Thursday, the head of the Polish government met with the current German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During his visit to Berlin, PM Morawiecki also met with Olaf Scholz – the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who is also set to become Germany’s new Chancellor. This was yet another in a series of meetings with European leaders aimed at coordinating the response of EU states and NATO members to the hybrid attack launched by Belarus. As of today, the eastern border of the European Union is affected by a migration crisis caused by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. The weapons of choice in this conflict are disinformation and migrants, with the latter being utilised as human shields as well. This is by far the largest attempt to destabilise the EU in the last 30 years. In addition to the situation unfolding on the eastern border of the EU, the leaders of Poland and Germany discussed the current increase in energy and gas prices across Europe.

“During the session, we discussed our presence in the B9 format, about the challenges that we face. First of all, I presented information in regard to the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. I discussed everything related to the hybrid attack that the Belarusian regime, the Lukashenka regime is conducted against Poland, but also against Lithuania and Latvia. We talked about how this situation can be solved” - said Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defence during the meeting of the defence ministers of the B9 countries in Bucharest.

Over the past year the Belarusian regime and the Russian administration have signed several agreements and arrangements enhancing cooperation between Russian and Belarusian security structures. Some of these documents are directly linked to the protection of the Union State’s borders. The cooperation between Russia and Belarus plays an important role in the assessment of the events taking place at our border with Belarus.

The head of Polish government continues his series of meetings with European leaders to coordinate the reaction of European countries and NATO members to hybrid warfare in which Belarus is involved. He met with President of France Emmanuel Macron in Paris and with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša in Ljubljana. Slovenia currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the next member state to take it over being France. The Polish–Belarusian border of the European Union is now where hybrid warfare is taking place and in which migrants and disinformation are on the defensive. This has been the largest attempt to destabilise the Community for 30 years.

On Monday, 22 of November, Minister Zbigniew Rau had a phone conversation with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.

The Head of the Polish Government met with the leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries in Budapest and with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia in Zagreb. These are subsequent talks between Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European leaders regarding geopolitical threats in Europe. The main topic of both meetings was the current situation on the Polish-Belarusian border of the European Union. The Prime Minister stressed the solidarity of NATO and European countries amid the current multidimensional political crisis – related not only to migration but also power generation industry and cyber-attacks.

On Monday (22 November), Minister Mariusz Kaminski held talks with Priti Patel, British Home Secretary. The main topic of the conversation was the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met with the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann. In their conversation, they mainly focused on growing energy prices, Russian manipulation of gas supplies to Europe, and Poland’s attractiveness in the context of investments made in our country. Poland’s 25-years-long membership in the structures of the organisation was also summarised during the meeting. The meeting was organised as part of the first visit of the OECD Secretary-General to Poland since his appointment to the position on 1 June 2021. Mathias Cormann congratulated Poland on its effective battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. As a citizen of Australia, he expressed his heartfelt gratitude for Poland’s aid to his country in the battle against Covid-19.

The international crisis caused by the actions of Alexander Lukashenko makes the geopolitical situation very serious and requires numerous actions and diplomatic efforts by the Polish government. Therefore, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where he held talks with the prime ministers of these countries. The talks concerned the current situation on the borders with Belarus and coordination of joint actions of the European Union countries. The Prime Minister emphasised that this is not only a conflict with Poland. It is an attempt to violate the eastern border of NATO and the EU. This is the first in a series of meetings between the Prime Minister and European leaders.