Kyiv.Ukraine.Ukraine Gate – November 17,2021- The government spokesman Piotr Muller and Head of the Presidential Office for International Policy Jacob Komocz announced after a meeting at the Polish National Security Office with the participation of senior officials and heads of law enforcement agencies that the Polish authorities are preparing for scenarios under which the migration crisis at the border with Belarus may last for more than a month.
“We are considering various pessimistic options, which means that the conflict could continue for months to come,” Mueller said.
According to him, the Lukashenko regime under Putin has a well-thought-out and well-organized algorithm for transferring migrants to Belarus. Minsk’s actions are coordinated by Moscow, and a similar situation is observed, in particular, in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and Georgia. Russia has not retreated in any of these regions, so concessions to Moscow are “the worst policy imaginable.”
Mueller said that Warsaw is creating an appropriate logistics infrastructure to ensure the presence of servicemen, police and border guards at the border.
In turn, the head of the Bureau of International Policy under the President of Poland said that the meeting discussed the application of Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, which provides for consultations between allies in the event of a threat to security and territorial integrity of NATO members.
“This is an option that is constantly taken into account,” said Kumokh. He recalled that the Alliance had used the article several times, in particular with regard to Turkey during the hostilities in Syria.
Kumokh also noted that Poland is in favor of expanding sanctions against Belarus, and their introduction is not a one-time step, but a long process.
“We advocate that this process, first of all, concern the widest possible range of people responsible for bringing to this tragedy. Secondly, let the economy of the Lukashenko regime feel it painfully, ”he stressed.
As reported, the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has been going on since August. Poland and the Baltic states accuse Belarus and Russia of hybrid aggression using an artificial migration flow.
Currently, 3-4 thousand migrants are directly at the border, in general in Belarus – up to 20 thousand.
Poland plans to build a fence more than 5 meters high on the border with Belarus by mid-2022.