Events on Finnish-Russian border are 'huge operation' says Polish MP
The events at the Finnish-Russian border are similar to those which took place earlier at the Polish-Belarusian border and are part of "one huge operation" targeting the West, a senior member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party has said.
In an interview for PAP, Marcin Przydacz, a PiS MP and a former deputy foreign minister, added that "everyone who is sane can see this as another element of Russia's hybrid war against the West."
On Tuesday, the Finnish government decided to close all of its border crossings with Russia in an attempt to halt a surge in asylum seekers Helsinki says is being orchestrated by Moscow.
This autumn almost 1,000 illegal immigrants from third countries crossed Finland's eastern frontier.
Finland, "until recently was basically a neutral country" and not a part of Nato structures so it may have been Russia's aim to "weaken and ridicule the Alliance, by pointing out holes in the entire system," Przydacz added.
He said "this shows that what happened on the Polish border and what is happening on the Finnish-Russian border is one huge operation."
"Poland was able to maintain stability on its eastern border, he continued, but "attempts at destabilisation from the Belarussian side are still being made."
On Monday, Polish border guards were sent to Finland as part of an advisory mission in connection with the hybrid attack on the Finnish border.
Anna Michalska, the Border Guard spokesperson, told PAP that as part of the mission, "Polish experts will advise the Finland on, among other matters, technical and legal issues concerning border protection."
In 2021, the Polish government deployed hundreds of police officers and troops to the Belarusian border owing to repeated attempts by hundreds of migrants to cross into Poland and then further to the West.
Poland has maintained that Belarus and Russia orchestrated the crisis in an attempt to destabilise the EU. (PAP)
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