DISINFO: Poland shut border crossing with Belarus because of imperialism and territorial claims
SUMMARY
The imperial pain of the Polish political establishment is so acute that the Polish authorities have lost their sense of reality. They harmed Belarusians and their own citizens with the closing of the border crossing. This is done to please geopolitical ambitions and unrealistic hopes of returning its interwar territories. Once the war in Ukraine started, the Polish authorities discussed a partition of Ukraine. Since the Russian special military operation began, the interwar territories are like a carrot hanging in front of the Polish authorities.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, presenting Poland as a state with aggressive plans towards Belarus and Ukraine.
Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński announced on 9 February 2023 the suspension of traffic at the Polish-Belarusian border crossing in Bobrowniki citing state security reasons. The decision came a day after a Belarusian journalist and activist from the Polish minority in Belarus, Andrzej Poczobut, was given an eight-year prison sentence in a politically motivated trial. The Polish foreign ministry said the charges were “politically motivated,” and demonstrated “the long-standing systemic discrimination against the Polish national minority in Belarus.” The Polish authorities’ decision however has nothing to do with “hopes of returning its interwar territories” as alleged in the article.
Amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the claim about Polish alleged anti-Ukrainian military intentions has become prolific in the pro-Kremlin media. This message has several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland wants either to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or that President Zelenskyy wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origin”. Poland, as well as the EU and the US respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine's territorial integrity. Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Poland thinks that Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and South-Western Lithuania belong to them, that Poland wants to dismember Ukraine and re-establish a Polish empire, that Ukraine is a Western colony belonging to Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, that Poland will try to gain full military control in Ukrainian territories under the guise of protecting the Polish population from Russia and that Poland plans to establish control over its historical lands in Ukraine.