EU migration commissioner visits Polish-Belarusian border
Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak and EU Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner visited a section of Poland's border with Belarus on Thursday evening amid a wave of illegal crossing attempts from Belarus that have lasted since 2021.
Warsaw accuses Minsk and Moscow of masterminding a migration crisis by inviting migrants from North Africa and the Middle East and encouraging them to illegally cross the Polish border in order to destabilise the EU.
"What we're are dealing with are hostile actions against Poland and the EU from the (Belarusian President Alexander - PAP) Lukashenko regime, which uses innocent people who seek a better life, often paying human traffickers for this possibility," Siemoniak said.
Poland has spent PLN 2.6 billion (EUR 610 million) so far to "physically and electronically protect this border," Siemoniak said, adding that 11,000 law enforcement officers and soldiers were standing ready to protect the border.
Siemoniak also praised the EU for allocating EUR 50 million to strengthen the Polish efforts.
Brunner said that the situation at the border was an EU problem as it was one of the bloc's external borders.
The EU commissioner said that neither Lukashenko nor Russian President Vladimir Putin would decide who should and who should not come to Europe.
He went on to say that people in Europe needed certainty that the EU can control what is happening both along its borders and within the bloc.
Poland has erected a steel fence equipped with electronic surveillance equipment to stem illegal crossings from Belarus. (PAP)
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