Paweł Jabłoński, deputy foreign minister
Radek Pietruszka/PAP

Poland’s deputy foreign minister, on Tuesday, held a meeting with representatives of embassies of Arab countries and Iran accredited in Warsaw to discuss the migrant situation on the Polish-Belarusian border.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pawel Jablonski “outlined the background of the crisis, pointing to the involvement of the Belarusian regime in the procedure of bringing to Belarus, among others, citizens of Middle Eastern countries, under the pretext of crossing the Polish and at the same time, for a fee, the EU border.”

Jablonski said that “this practice is part of the hybrid war activities carried out by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko with the participation of elements of the so-called Wagner Group.” 

The ministry added that these actions are a direct attempt at destabilising Poland and the entire European Union.

“The ambassadors and chargé d’affaires of the embassies of: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and the United Arab Emirates received from Deputy Minister Jablonski the assurance that the Polish Border Guard operates in accordance with due procedures and regulations. He added that the key aspect of its work is to deal with people illegally crossing the border of the Republic of Poland and the EU in a respectful way,” the ministry wrote.

Jablonski also asked the diplomats present at the meeting “to inform the Polish side about any attempts of activities, noticed in their countries, aimed at facilitating coordinated, illegal migration through Belarus and Russia to the European Union.”