Poland in Libya

Belarus has never been on the migration track from the Middle East, even in 2015-16 when hundreds of thousands of people were trying to get to Europe. Migrants appeared in Belarussuddenly, soon after A. Lukashenka’s threats of Belarus taking revenge on the EU for the next round of sanctions.

A new permanent border wall is being built in Poland, which will seal the border with Belarus. Already today, the Polish-Belarusian border is the most closely guarded section of the EU's external border. Illegal crossing of the border from Belarus to Poland should be even more difficult.

Despite the Belarusian propaganda (using also the Polish deserter E. Czeczko), this is Lukashenka regime, and specifically, A. Lukashenka himself, who is fully responsible for the fate of migrants coming to Belarusia (most recently form the Russian territory) and trying to cross illegally the Belarusian border with the EU. Belarusian services’ engagement in brutally forcing migrants to illegally cross the border is well documented and available through the Polish Border Guard publications.

From the beginning of the hybrid operation against Poland, a part of which is the crisis on the PolishBelarusian border, Russia has sponsored Minsk's actions, providing support to Lukashenka regime on political grounds and in the field of cooperation between security services.

Russia is actively supporting all initiatives of the Belarusian regime, which also serve to implement the Kremlin's strategic goals - especially those concerning the permanent destabilization of security in the Central European region, including the strained situation around Ukraine.

 

RECENT BORDER INCIDENTS:

• From the beginning of the current year to February 11, the Polish Border Guard recorded 1146 attempts to cross the Belarusian-Polish border illegally. Only in February, 130 attempts were recorded.
• 08.02.2022 – a group of 20 foreigners (nationals of Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Palestinian Autonomy attempted to cross the BY-PL border illegally in the vicinity of Czeremcha. The same day, another group of 10 foreigners (citizens of Pakistan and Guinea), who entered the Polish territory illegally was stopped by the Polish services in the vicinity of Dubicze Cerkiewne.
• 09.02.2022 – 15 foreigners (including 7 nationals of Pakistan, 5 nationals of Yemen and 3 nationals of Guinea) attempting to cross the border illegally were stopped in the vicinity of Dubicze Cerkiewne and Narewka. The foreigners came to Belarusia in January and Febraury this year by plane, form the Russian territory.
• 10.02.2022 – the Polish Border Guard recorded 24 attempts to cross the border illegally. In the vicinity of Białowieża, 5 foreigners were stopped (3 citizens of Iraq, 1 citizen of Syria and 1 citizen of Nigeria), who threw stones at Polish patrols.
• 11.02.2022 – 12 attempts to cross the border illegally were recorded. In the vicinity of Czeremcha 7 aggressive foreigners were stopped, who threw stones at Polish patrols (3 citizens of Syria, 2 citizens of Senegal, 1 citizen od Yemen and 1 citizen of Turkey.
• 12.02.2022 - 9 aggressive foreigners were stopped in the vicinity of Mielnik.
• 13.02.2022 – another group of 8 aggressive foreigners throwing stones at Polish patrols was stopped in the vicinity of Mielnik. 2 people more were stopped in the vicinity of Michałów. None of the 32 persons detained during the weekend expressed the will to ask for international protection in Poland.

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:

• 14 February - FM Zbigniew Rau discussed with the Canadian FM Melanie Joly the security situation in Europe and the actions taken by the Poland’s OSCE chairmanship to de-escalate tensions.
• 14 February - Minister for EU Affairs at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Konrad Szymański, met with the Austrian minister Karoline Edtstadler. The talks covered the situation at the PL-BY border, a conference on the future of Europe, the rule of law and climate policy.
• 13 February - Poland’s President Andrzej Duda spoke with Canadian PM  Justin Trudeau. They agreed that both countries continued their efforts and remained dedicated to territorial integrity and wellbeing of Ukraine, as well as freedom and democracy in Belarus.
• 13 February - FM Zbigniew Rau underlined that the importance of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s presence in Ukraine it is needed more than ever. During his meeting with President Volodymir  Zelensky  he underlined the significance of the Renewed European Security Dialogue initiative. Earlier, during his talk with FM Dmytro Kuleba, Poland’s FM underlined essential engagement of Trilateral Contact Group and OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.
• 11 February - During his meeting with the leaders of US, FR, DE, UK, CA, IT, RO, EU and NATO, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said: “We must not give way to Russia. It is with great satisfaction that we accept that NATO is behaving responsibly: it is not retreating, but is strengthening in Central Europe”.
• 10 February - Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said during the meeting with British PM Boris Johnson in Warsaw: The United Kingdom has shown great solidarity with Ukraine, Poland and the whole eastern part of NATO. Poland and the UK are unequivocally on the side of peace and security. (…) In the face of the growing Russian military presence at the border with Ukraine, we must de-escalate the conflict.

 

14 February 2022