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Russia aims to destabilize EU through migration, Polish FM warns

28.05.2024 13:30
Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has renewed a warning that Russia aims to destabilize the European Union by flooding it with illegal migrants.
Polands top diplomat Radosław Sikorski.
Poland's top diplomat Radosław Sikorski.Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

His statement came in an interview with leading European newspapers, including Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza.

Sikorski addressed the ongoing joint Russian-Belarusian nuclear maneuvers in Minsk and expressed grave concerns about Russia's pervasive actions and their potential to destabilize the EU.

Speaking with journalists from Italy's La Repubblica, Spain's El Pais and Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza, Sikorski recalled past threats from Russia during negotiations with the United States on building missile defense systems in Poland.

"The Russians threatened to annihilate us with nuclear weapons so often that I had to appeal to Russian generals not to threaten us more than once per quarter," Sikorski said. "They stopped for a while."

When asked about Poland's preparedness for Russian hybrid attacks, Sikorski emphasized the strengthening of Poland's eastern border.

"We are not only fortifying against illegal migration but also against military threats," he said.

He added: "This is not about migrants seeking better lives; we are facing an organized attack against the European Union. Ninety percent of those attempting to cross the Polish-Belarusian border have Russian visas in their passports. These individuals were encouraged to come from various African and Middle Eastern countries, transported to Moscow, then moved to Belarus and directed to the EU border."

Sikorski warned: "Our neighbor, a UN member, is orchestrating an attack aimed at destroying the European Union through a political process. The plan is simple. Russia and Belarus rightly assume that if we cannot control the border, the far-right will triumph in our national and European elections. This will blow the Union apart."

(jh/gs)

Source: IAR, Gazeta Wyborcza