“Migrants who were in Belarus on the territory bordering Poland were taken to Russia, colonel of the Polish Border Service Andrzej Stasyulewicz told PAP on Thursday. Source: “European Truth” with reference to PAP Direct speech: “At some point we noticed that migrants were being taken from the border zone towards Russia.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Migrants who were in Belarus on the territory bordering Poland were taken to Russia, colonel of the Polish Border Service Andrzej Stasyulewicz told PAP on Thursday.
Source: “European Truth” with reference to PAP
Direct speech: “At some point, we noticed that migrants were being taken from the border zone towards Russia. Perhaps Lukashenko wants peace in the country before the presidential elections.”
Details: At the same time, he did not want to predict what might happen to people who remain in the border zone. In his opinion, they can be exploited and sent from Russia to Finland.
According to the Border Service, 86 people tried to cross the border in the first two weeks of January this year, which is an average of six people per day. This is significantly less than last year’s average of more than 80 border crossing attempts per day. Statistics show that while the number of crossings increased significantly last year (from 25,701 in 2023 to 29,616), the opposite trend has been observed since the last week of September 2024.
On the other hand, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Maciej Duszczyk told PAP that the key factor influencing the decrease in the number of border crossings, as shown in previous years, is the weather. He predicts that Belarusian services and the intermediaries who help them guide people to the Polish-Belarusian border are likely to become more active in the warmer months, when it is easier to cross the border.
“However, we can suspect that Lukashenko, preparing for the presidential elections, wants to restore order in the country.” Duschyk noted.
The deputy minister noted that the presence of migrants arriving in Belarus with Russian visas may worry potential voters. Their presence in Minsk may also be undesirable if, after the elections, Belarusians take to the streets again with protests.
“In addition, the presence of migrants causes concern in villages near the Polish-Belarusian border. This may scare people away from voting,” he said.
“I don’t sit in Lukashenka’s head, but one can suspect that the lower numbers may be related to the fact that he is trying to maintain peace in the country.” Duschyk emphasized.
The deputy minister noted that the reduction in pressure is temporary, and Lukashenko is likely to continue the operation of “using people as weapons.”
What happened before:
- At the end of November, it was reported that illegal migrants found a new way to cross the border from Belarus to Poland. They began to use the border crossings, which are temporarily closed to traffic, to cross the border with Belarus.
- From December 10, Poland extended the operation of the buffer zone on the border with Belarus for another 90 days.