“To be free, Poland has to be strong. Today, this strength has to manifest itself as effectiveness. Effectiveness of our actions at the eastern border ,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, quoting the words of Ignacy Paderewski, and added that “ The fact that the security of our eastern border is being brutally violated must be stressed. This is an extraordinary situation, the first such situation in over 30 years, where the security and integrity of our borders are being attacked and tested in such a brutal manner.”

The situation at the border between Poland and Belarus

At the moment, the border between Poland and Belarus is being defended by 15 thousand Border Guard officers and 13 thousand soldiers. The Prime Minister stressed that we have to prepare for a long-term escalation of actions on the part of Belarusian authorities.

“We all realise that Alexander Lukashenko was the one who brought tens of thousands of people into Belarus and forced them to move from Minsk to our eastern border,” said the Head of the Polish Government, and added that “Another weapon is also being used here, one known from previous wars and of particular importance in this instance, a weapon which the Russians have mastered – disinformation. This is something of which we need to be fully aware.”

The Prime Minister called on everyone to show solidarity and unity. He stressed that the authorities from beyond the eastern border are observing the Poles’ ability to remain focused, coherent, concentrated and united. If we are not united, it will be much easier to interfere with our sovereignty.

A call to put political disputes aside

Alexander Lukashenko’s regime is escalating the actions at the border with the European Union. Each day, there are hundreds of attempts to illegally cross the border. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on the entire Sejm of the Republic of Poland to show unity: “Today, on this special day of this extraordinary session, we ought to forget who is from the left, who from the right, who from a liberal party, who from a conservative one or any other. Although the Sejm is the main place where various interests are a subject of various disputes, today, there should be only one dominating interest – the national interest of the Republic of Poland.”

Tangible actions at the eastern border

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked everyone involved in the actions at the eastern border. The Security Committee, led by the Chairman of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, had decided to build appropriate installations all the way back in June. These actions were preventive in nature. Had the barbed wire fence not been built, hundreds of migrants, driven by Belarusian services, would have already crossed the Polish border.

“Had it not been for our actions, the border between Poland and Belarus would have been nothing more than a virtual border. It would have been crossed by tens of thousands of migrants. Migrants are being brought in by Lukashenko to destabilise the Republic of Poland and destroy the cohesion of both our country and the European Union. This time, they failed,” said the Head of the Polish Government.

The Sejm hall resounded not just with words, but also with applause as a sign of gratitude for the difficult service in defending the Polish border.

“We thank all the wonderful officers of the Border Guard, Police, soldiers of the operational forces and soldiers of the Territorial Defence Forces for their admirable service and defence of the uniform of the Polish soldier and Polish officer. We thank you for defending the borders of the Republic of Poland,” thanked the Prime Minister.

Support of our foreign friends

At the eastern border, we are dealing not just with violence against the sovereign Polish state, but also with a spectacle. It is a directed scenario aimed at violating our borders and cause chaos both in Poland and in the European Union. In 2015 and 2016, similar actions occurred in Europe from a different direction. Now, these actions are being carried out at the border between Poland and Belarus. The eastern border of Poland is also the border of the European Union and of a NATO member state. Our foreign partners recognise this.

“Today, as you can see, we are receiving unequivocal expressions of solidarity and support. They are coming from Brussels, from Washington, from Kiev and from all European capitals. In Spain, there is a social campaign called ‘Viva Polonia!’, one of the largest of its kind. We thank you for your solidarity and your readiness to provide assistance,” thanked Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and added that “I have spoken with Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, with the President of the EC and with other Prime Ministers. They all understand this provocation. They understand that our border is the border between the rule of law and the rule of lawlessness, which, sadly, is prevalent in Belarus.”