The Polish government reported that it had seen a new wave of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to enter the country illegally from Belarus, claiming that the migrants were first flown to Russia.
The Polish Border Guard reported that most of the migrants trying to enter the EU through the Polish-Belarusian border were from sub-Saharan Africa, the Polish Ministry of State Security said.
Africans were allegedly able to legally get visas to fly to Russia and then to Belarus, where they tried to cross illegally into Poland, AP Report.
“[The migrants] There are study or work visas, but according to testimony obtained by the Border Guard, they never had such a plan, they used the visas only to get through the immigration route,” the Department of State Security said.
“At the same time, the Russian government facilitates the process of obtaining visas,” the department said, adding: “The actions taken by Russia and Belarus confirm that artificially created migration routes are controlled and coordinated by both regimes, and in the future we should expect the The hybrid operation to destabilize NATO’s eastern flank will only intensify.”
Last year, Poland accused Belarus of sending migrants to their border, some reportedly at gunpoint, in what the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko called a “hybrid war.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the border area on Thursday to mark the completion of the new steel wall. https://t.co/jQsh1PEuJh
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 30, 2022
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke on the issue in November 2021, calling it the biggest attempt to destabilize Europe since the end of the Cold War.
“Our common home, Europe, is under threat. At this very moment, a hybrid war is taking place on the Polish-Belarusian border, and Aleksandr Lukashenko, with the behind-the-scenes support of Vladimir Putin, declares his opposition to the entire EU,” Poland said the Prime Minister.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, some have speculated that Russia may follow Belarus in trying to send migrants to EU countries in retaliation for economic sanctions.
Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a senior fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, warned in April that Russia could engage in hybrid warfare as Finland seeks to join the NATO alliance.
The Finnish government has also expressed caution about possible Russian actions, and in June sought reforms to the Border Guard Act and the Emergency Powers Act to deal with a possible future surge in illegal immigration.
Experts warn that if Finland joins NATO, Russia could allow illegal migrants to flow into Finland https://t.co/fVxcF70kBr
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 10, 2022
