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Poland and Lithuania counter hybrid attacks on the border

20.09.2023

- Thank you that today we could meet, we could discuss Polish-Lithuanian cooperation, which is model and exemplary. We are in constant contact, and at least once a year there are meetings of defense ministers of Poland and Lithuania. There have already been four rounds, so we exchange experiences, share insights, information and cooperate very closely. We met today in a unique place, namely, at the tri-junction. Here is the border of Poland, Belarus, and next there is the border of Lithuania and Belarus, and the border of Poland and Lithuania. A unique place because of, on the one hand, our Polish-Lithuanian friendship - which we are greatly pleased about - and, on the other hand, because of the hybrid attacks carried out from the territory of Belarus that affect Poland and Lithuania" Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said during a meeting with Lithuania's defense minister.

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On Wednesday, September 20, Mariusz Blaszczak, Minister of National Defense, met with Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of Defense of Lithuania, in Gruszki.

We have been facing these attacks for two years now. Both in Poland and in Lithuania authorities are countering these attacks using border securities. Our Polish-Lithuanian military cooperation is very close. The Polish Armed Forces, for instance, will be carrying out the Air Policing mission starting this December. The Polish Air Force will be on duty in the skies over Lithuania and the Baltic States. We are very pleased with this cooperation involving joint exercises of the Polish and Lithuanian forces. We are also open to any recommendations from the Lithuanian side

- Minister Blaszczak said

We meet at the border. This is an incredibly strategic place on the map, as it is the place between the Königsberg region, Russia and Belarus, countries that work closely together and that threaten the independence of their neighbors. The Russian empire has always, whether it was white or red or is now Putin's, threatened the nations that live in the neighborhood.(...) In one respect I envy the minister - the attitude of the Lithuanian opposition. Because when Lithuania faced a hybrid attack from Belarusian territory the Lithuanian opposition supported the government. Unfortunately, in Poland, the opposition does not support the government. It was against the construction of a fence on the border with Belarus

- said the minister of the Polish ministry of defense, who together with the Lithuanian defense minister met with soldiers at the tri-junction of the Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian borders.

Poland and Lithuania have long cooperated and supported each other in defending the borders against hybrid attacks. A meeting of the heads of the defense ministries was devoted to the issues of continuing this cooperation and border protection, as well as other threats from Russia. After the meeting, the ministers traveled to the tri-junction of the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus.

We are stronger together. Naturally, we are very appreciative of the NATO summit in Vilnius, which brought some very clear change in terms of the approach of the Alliance countries to the threats posed by Russia. Now, we are jointly executing those decisions that were made in Vilnius, but we are also open to any Lithuanian proposals to strengthen Polish-Lithuanian military relations. They serve the purpose of deterring the aggressor

- emphasized the head of the Polish Ministry of National Defense.
>>> GALLERY - Meeting with the Minister of Defense of Lithuania

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For the past 2 years, Polish soldiers have been involved in supporting the Border Guard and Police in repelling hybrid attacks on our border inspired and executed by Russian and Belarusian authorities. They effectively stop the onslaught of migrants being sent here and prevent them from entering Poland uncontrolled.

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