Poland in Libya

The Lukashenko regime continues its aggressive hybrid operation against Poland and the EU. Belarusian services continue to escalate the situation on the border with Poland. Further attempts to cross the border illegally are reported every day. Migrants continue to be coordinated by the Belarusian services who are using wooden logs, destroying the concertina. Foreigners led by Belarusian security services are constantly looking for new ways to break into the West. The Polish Border Guard records that the apprehended foreigners hold different nationalities.

The border events are accompanied by aggressive information activities aimed at proving that Poland is responsible for creating the migration crisis, and that Polish border defenders pose a threat to the security of the entire region.

Poland and NATO are a permanent target of propaganda efforts calculated, among other things, to manipulate the image of West-Russia relations. The propaganda in Minsk and Moscow presents the Alliance as a hostile entity that threatens the interests of Belarus and Russia. These actions are aimed at, among other things, justification for the increased aggression of the Russian side.

The figures presented by the Polish Border Guard show clearly that the migration route from Belarus to Poland is artificial. In 2021, 39.670 attempts to illegally cross the Polish border from Belarus were recorded, more than 300 times up from 129 attempts a year earlier:

• 2021 – 39.670 attempts to illegally cross the BY-PL border, of which 36.175 were prevented;
• 2020 – 129 attempts;
• 2019 – 20 attempts;
• 2018 -  4 attempts

 

RECENT BORDER INCIDENTS:

• From the beginning of January to January 27, the Polish Border Guard recorded 887 attempts to cross the Belarusian-Polish border illegaly.
• 25.01.2022 – 12 foreigners attempted to illegally cross the border in the vicinity of Narewka. All of them (nationals of Lebanon, Iraq and Syria) were stopped and returned to the border line.
• 25.01.2022 – In the vicinity of Czeremcha, Belarusian soldiers attempted to cut the border protection fence. They threw stones and blinded the Polish patrols with laser lights. After 1 hour, the Belarusian services withdrew into the Belarusian territory. At night, in the same area, the Belarusian soldiers fired at Polish patrols using long weapons.
• 26.01.2022 – 11 migrants (nationals of Egypt, Yemen and Syria) attempted to illegally cross the border in the vicinity of Dubicze Cerkiewne. 2 other attempts to cross the border illegally by a group of 5 people (nationals of Nigeria and Ghana) and a group of 6 people (nationals of Tajikistan and Afghanistan) were recorded. At night, in the vicinity of Czeremcha, 9 Iraqi nationals attempted forcibly to cross the border. They were assisted by Belarusian services. Stones were thrown at the Polish patrols, blinded with laser lights. All aggressive foreigners were stopped.
• 27.01.2022 – Construction of the border barrier (186 kilometers long and 5.5 meters high) on the border line with Belarus has been initiated.
• 27.01.2022 – 21 foreigners (including nationals of Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen) attempted to cross the border illegally . All of them were stopped and returned to the border line).
• 29/30.01.2022 – 76 foreigners attempted to cross the border illegally. In the vicinity of Czeremcha there were 2 groups of aggressive migrants assisted by Belarusian services that started a simultaneous assault on the border. The swift actions of the Polish services prevented the illegal crossing of the border.
• 31.01.2022 – 39 foreigners (32 nationals of Iraq, 6 nationals of Sri Lanka and 1 national of Afghanistan) were stopped by the Polish Border Guard in the vicinity of Czeremcha, Narewka i Nowy Dwór. Moreover, at night, in the vicinity of Białowieża, Belarusian soldiers fired a missile form  signal weapon, which fell on the Polish side of the border, near the permanent post of Polish services.

To follow up-to-date information on the situation on the Polish-Belarussian border, we encourage you to visit:

• the special website: https://www.gov.pl/web/border;
• a special English-language coverage of the migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, entitled "Focus on the Border",  lunched by the public broadcaster Radio Poland: https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/9610.

 

DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN BY POLAND’s OFFICIALS:

The situation on the Polish-Belarussian border and the hybrid action against Poland has been the subject of the following actions:

• 31 January - In Tallinn Polish FM Zbigniew Rau met with President Alar Karis,  PM Kaja Kallas and FM Eva-Maria Liimets. FM Rau expressed gratitude for the assistance of Estonian soldiers in securing the Polish-Belarusian border, and reaffirmed Poland’s commitment to strengthening Estonia's security.
• 29 January - PM Mateusz Morawiecki for Spanish “El Mundo”: ”Out of the 27 EU countries, Poland has been issuing the biggest number of residence permits for immigrants continuously since 2015. And since of the annexation of Crimea, Poland has become home to over a million Ukrainians who were forced to leave their country due to Russia’s aggressive policy. Poland has also become a place of asylum for thousands of Belarussians”.
• 27 January - Security in the region in the face of tensions around Ukraine was subject of consultations of presidential security and foreign policy advisers from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which were held in Vilnius.
• 26 January - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak to discuss Russia’s ongoing, unprovoked military build-up around Ukraine.  Both leaders expressed their unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and their continuing commitment to build the defensive capabilities of Ukraine’s forces.  Secretary Austin and Minister Błaszczak also exchanged views on enhancing deterrence along NATO’s Eastern Flank, highlighted the importance of maintaining NATO unity, and agreed to continue their close cooperation at this critical time.

31 January 2022