Situation beyond the eastern border

During the meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke about concerns related to the situation on the Polish–Belarusian border of the EU. “By defending it, we are also defending the Community,” stressed the head of Polish government. The Prime Minister also thanked France and other EU partners for expressing their solidary and support for the actions taken by Poland to protect the eastern border of the EU.

In Paris, the politicians also talked about the gathering of Russian troops near Ukraine and the gas blackmail resulting in higher gas prices throughout Europe. ”Gas prices affect energy prices across Europe,” emphasised Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. In addition, the discussion concerned the issue of Russian propaganda, hacker attacks and spreading fake news. “All these actions should meet with one response – solidarity of the entire EU,” claimed the head of Polish government.

Following his discussion with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša in Ljubljana, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki noted that Alexander Lukashenko’s regime was currently stopped on the eastern border of the EU, encountering much resistance. “But, together with his actual Kremlin-based principal, it is certain that the number of these events that have occurred may mean that a further period of destabilisation is on its way. We do not want that, and we are looking for good solutions,” said the Polish Prime Minister.

The President of the Council of Minister said that the series of crises that we are now encountering is a trying time for Europe, in which we must stay united as the EU and be focused on the most important issues rather than on internal arguments and differences.

The Polish–Belarusian border of the European Union is 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 entire European Union for 30 years. There are numerous indications that the crisis will be continued for many months or even years. Intensive actions are undertaken to the east of Poland – cyberattacks and gas price/delivery manipulations aimed to spark an energy crisis. Russia now has a new blackmail weapon, which is the planned commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The increasing military involvement of Russia near Ukraine can also be observed. This means that our neighbour is under growing pressure. We must draw conclusions from the actions taken by Russia in Georgia, Crimea, or in eastern Ukraine.

The international crisis caused by Alexander Lukashenko’s actions means that the geopolitical situation becomes very grave and requires numerous diplomatic actions and démarches from the Polish government. With this in mind, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki continues his meetings and discussions with leaders of the European community. The Prime Minister points out that the conflict does not focus only on Poland. It is an attempt to breach the eastern border of NATO and the EU.

On 23 November, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met with the heads of Visegrád Group countries and with the Croatian Prime Minister. Zbigniew Rau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with his Romanian counterpart on that day as well.

On Sunday, 21 November, the head of Polish government visited Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The leaders discussed the current situation on the Polish–Belarusian border of the European Union and joint actions of the EU member states. Mateusz Morawiecki also talked to the Prime Minister of Iraq and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, with the topic mainly focusing on the migrants exploited by the Belarusian regime.

The previous diplomatic actions taken by Poland have been successful – much fewer migrants are now arriving in Belarus. On 19 November, the head of Polish government also met with Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence of the United States. They agreed that close cooperation in terms of security on the NATO's Eastern Flank is a must.

From the holiday period onwards, the Polish–Belarusian border of the European Union has been under constant pressure from migrants who are transported there by the Belarusian authorities. The last few weeks have seen increased attempts to break the territorial integrity of EU member states and further provocation from the Belarusian authorities.