Polish president meets servicemen on Poland-Belarus border for Xmas Eve
Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Wednesday, this year's Christmas Eve, met with soldiers as well as police and border guard officers in Jarylowka, close to the country's border with Belarus.
"A war is nearby and, under the pressure of the Russian Federation's and Belarus's activities, our borders are not safe," Nawrocki said. "We want peace and security, but this can't be achieved without the day-to-day commitment of Polish soldiers and servicemen."
Warsaw accuses Minsk of orchestrating a migration crisis on its border with Belarus by inviting tens of thousands of migrants, primarily from the Middle East and Africa, and encouraging them to cross illegally into the EU through Poland. Poland believes that the crisis, which started in 2021, is meant to destabilise the EU.
Nawrocki went on to say that "our borders are not just a line on the map, they are the threshold of our home in which our children, our women, our men live."
As the supreme commander of Poland's Armed Forces, Nawrocki said, he had come to the soldiers and servicemen "to show respect" for the Polish uniform.
Nawrocki also offered the servicemen his best Christmas wishes.
Earlier in the day, Nawrocki and his wife Marta Nawrocka sent Christmas wishes to all Poles living both in the country and abroad.
Other Polish top officials, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, also offered their best wishes to the nation. (PAP)
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