Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday, May 21, accused Russia of trying to illegally smuggle thousands of migrants from Africa to Europe. The head of the Polish cabinet also announced the re-establishment of a commission to study Russia's undue influence in the country.
Poland plans to strengthen its eastern border amid reports that since the summer of 2021, thousands of migrants and refugees, mostly from the Middle East, have crossed or tried to cross it. On Saturday, May 18, Tusk announced that Warsaw will spend more than 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to strengthen the border with Belarus and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.
Poland and other European countries blame Belarus is that she, together with Russia, organized an influx of migrants within the framework of a “hybrid” attack designed to destabilize the situation in the region and the EU as a whole.
Speaking to reporters, the Polish prime minister said that intelligence available to the country's intelligence services indicates that the “Russian state” is to blame for these efforts, Reuters reports.
"It is the Russian state, and not some shady business, is behind the organization of the recruitment, transportation and attempts to smuggle thousands of people into Europe", – explained Tusk.
He mentioned Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen and Ethiopia as countries where Russia is trying to “recruit” migrants to send them to the Polish border, after transporting them through "one of the Arab countries" to Moscow.
"Currently, several places have been discovered in Russia where large groups of migrants collected in this way are concentrated, – Tusk said, referring to information from the services of allied countries. – More than 90 percent of those who illegally cross the Polish border – people with Russian visas.”.
According to the Polish border agency, more than 13,000 attempts to cross the border from Belarus have been detected this year.
In addition, Tusk announced the re-establishment of a commission to investigate undue Russian influence in the country, as Warsaw struggles with the Russian government's crackdown on intensive campaign to destabilize the situation in Poland.
The commission was originally created last year by the former Polish government, whose political base was the Law and Justice party. (PiS). Movement “Civic Coalition” (KO), headed by Tusk, criticized it, seeing it as a means of political pressure.
Announcing the re-establishment of the commission, Tusk said that it would consist of 9-13 people. Members of the commission will be selected next week, based on recommendations from government officials, including the interior, defense and foreign ministers. The Prime Minister of the country appointed the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, General Yaroslav Strozhik, as the head of the commission.
Prepared by: Sergei Daga