Belarus keeps using migrants for hybrid attacks on Poland – Polish intelligence

July 31, BPN. Belarusian security agents continue to bring illegal migrants to the border with Poland, said Poland’s deputy coordinator of special services Stanisław Żaryn.

Belarusian security services provide migrants with ladders and cutting tools to cross border barriers as well as stones and bricks to attack Polish border guards, he tweeted.

The situation at the shared border with Belarus remains dangerous as Polish patrols are being attacked by aggressive foreigners, he noted.

Poland is aware of the threats arising from illegal migration as it identified it as a part of Russia’s plan to destabilize Europe and NATO’s eastern flank, Żaryn said.

A total of 17,348 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus since the start of 2023 with 228 attempts recorded over the past day alone, according to the Polish Border Guard.

On July 29, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that he had information about over 100 Russian mercenaries heading in the direction of Hrodna, a major Belarusian city close to Poland. He described the move as “a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”

Warsaw may cut off all links to Belarus over security risks, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said two days earlier stressing that Belarus’ western neighbors are ready to respond to any provocations.

Alaksandar Łukašenka used his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to threaten Poland.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 2021, with thousands of migrants setting up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but have risen sharply in the last few months with Poland being the prime target.