DISINFO: Poland aggravates border situation to distract attention from domestic problems
SUMMARY
Poland aims to aggravate the situation [in terms of the border crisis]. The Polish authorities have failed with the migrants, so they started looking for other opportunities and ways [to fight Belarus]. Warsaw has two goals: first of all, to present itself as a defender and, secondly, to distract attention from internal divisions and problems in Polish society.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets about the migration situation on the EU-Belarus borders.
The claim that Poland aggravates the situation on the border with Belarus in order to fight with Belarus and reach its domestic goals is ungrounded.
The situation was caused by Belarus as a response to EU sanctions imposed on Minsk for its oppressive measures against the political opposition. There is plenty of evidence that the Belarusian authorities have instigated the ongoing irregular migration flows to the EU borders via Belarus.
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the situation on the EU-Belarus border is not a bilateral issue of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus but a hybrid attack against the whole EU. Similarly, the vice-president of the European Commission and high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy (HRVP) Josep Borrell stressed that responsibility for the migration crisis falls on the Lukashenka regime.
See our earlier articles on the Belarus migration situation here and here.