Poland does not expect tensions on its border with Belarus to ease, the prime minister said on Monday, amid a surge in migration and upcoming Russian-led military exercises.
"We do not expect a decrease in tensions on the eastern border because in a few days the biggest military exercises in 40 years will start, 'Zapad-2021'," Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
"Military drills of such calibre, involving so many soldiers, can result in many provocations," the PM said.
He also said people were being detained on a regular basis, who were likely associates of the Belarusian services and working for the Lukashenko regime, trying to smuggle immigrants into Poland. The prime minister called on Belarus to cease these attempts.
"We've introduced the state of emergency, we asked the president (to impose it). The president has signed a proper ordinance. Today in the Sejm, we're going to call upon all political factions to support this state of emergency," Morawiecki said.
He also reassured that business owners operating in the area where the state of emergency has been imposed would receive compensation for incurred losses.
Poland's PM also added that Belarus has signed the Geneva Convention and due to this fact migrants, who come to Minsk from Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan, should be filing for asylum there.
Minister of Interior Mariusz Kamiński, also present at the briefing, said that Poland has recorded 457 attempts of illegal border crossing since the state of emergency announcement.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Kancelaria Premiera