Russia and Belarus accused of using migrants to break European unity

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Sunday that the tense situation on the border between Poland and Belarus is the result of "a joint plan of Minsk and Moscow to destabilize the country and the EU."

"For more than two years, Poland has been experiencing attacks on its eastern border," Morawiecki told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

Poland said last week it is sending 10,000 troops to the border area to boost security in the face of what it says are increasing numbers of Belarusian border provocations, which Minsk denies.

Morawiecki added that Russia and Belarus were "cynically using migrants to hit Polish security structures and break the unity of European allies."

He said that in 2023, there have been 16,000 attempts to cross the Polish border illegally.

Poland has faced waves of migrants coming across its eastern border with Belarus since the summer of 2021. Warsaw accuses Minsk of organizing the illegal crossings.

In reference to the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, Morawiecki added: "Recently, over a hundred Wagner mercenaries moved towards the Suwalki Pass, near the Polish border. This could be the next phase of the ongoing hybrid attack on Poland."

"We have seen in Africa and Ukraine what they are capable of," he added.

He added that Wagner fighters pose a threat because they could disguise themselves as Belarusian border guards and help illegal migrants to enter Poland.

"They can also train migrants to provoke and attack Polish services. They can try to cross the border, pretending to be illegal migrants and then try to destabilize our country," concluded Morawiecki.