This NATO member country which has the particularity of sharing borders with both Ukraine and Russia (that of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania), intends to reinforce its eastern border with ditches, fields mines and other anti-tank structures, and requests EU participation in this project worth more than two billion euros.
The country has accused Russia of air transport sabotage, and has a long coastline on the Baltic Sea where NATO this week launched a monitoring mission after undersea cables and pipelines were disrupted in apparent actions of sabotage.
The Polish government further claims that Russia is behind a massive disinformation campaign aimed at undermining support for Ukraine, as well as a wave of cyberattacks.
The Polish Minister of Digital, Krzysztof Gawkowski, estimated on Wednesday that in this area his country was “the most attacked” in Europe.
Relations between Hungary and Poland are going through polar cold
“A Danger”
Of all the instruments of hybrid warfare with which Russia is accused, the manipulation of migratory flows is undoubtedly the most visible – and Poland’s response the most controversial.
The Polish government accuses Moscow and Minsk of acting as “smuggling gangs”, transporting migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia and other countries by plane or bus, then launching them towards the Polish border.
According to Polish border guards, more than 30,000 people tried to cross the border illegally in 2024.
Thousands of soldiers, aided by cameras and drones, were deployed to stop groups of migrants trying to cross the 186 kilometer, 500 million euro metal fence erected in the forest area of the Belarusian border.
But the reaction of Polish border guards has drawn criticism.
In December the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Poland of pushing back migrants in an “illegal and sometimes violent” manner, describing practices that were “inhumane” and contrary to EU rules.
Often caught between Belarusian and Polish border guards, many migrants find themselves in the woods “in very harsh conditions, without food or water”, Lydia Gall, member of HRW, told AFP.
-“There are people dying there,” she added.
kyiv accuses Moscow of hitting civilian gathering site in Russia
Maciej Duszczyk, the undersecretary of state in charge of migration, affirms for his part that the patrols help those who are in danger, but admitted that the soldiers pushed back those who were found near the fence and did not had no intention of seeking asylum in Poland.
Most want to join Germany or other EU countries, he said.
Polish data only shows one death from cold on this side of the border in 2024, but Warsaw does not have figures for deaths on Belarusian territory.
The Polish NGO “We are watching” for its part reported 14 deaths in 2024, according to HRW.
In December the government adopted a bill that would allow temporary restrictions on the right to asylum.
The EU considered that this text, which has yet to be approved in the Polish Parliament, would not violate Union rules if it were applied in a “strict” manner.
Warsaw also intends to review EU policy on readmissions and the definition of safe countries, Duszczyk said. The project is notably supported by Italy and the Netherlands.
“We are in danger, we need exceptional measures,” pleaded Mr. Duszczyk.
