“For today, we do not see the need to involve Frontex in activities on our border. Currently, the section of the border with Belarus is protected by more than 7,000 Border Guard officers, police and soldiers of the Polish Army, and there will be more,” Polish Deputy Interior Minister Bartosz Grodecki told state news agency PAP.
“However, we want to cooperate with Frontex in the area of readmission, that is, the return of migrants to their countries of origin,” Grodecki said.
He added that Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri, during a joint visit to the Polish-Belarusian border earlier this month, pledged the agency's support in organizing flights from Poland to third countries.
Grodecki said that his country wants “to take advantage of this offer. Frontex's support is important in this area. It has qualified people, tools and financial resources at its disposal,” he added, saying that talks were already underway.
Amid a growing migrant surge, Polish lawmakers last week backed a government plan to build a wall on the country's border with Belarus.
Late last month, the Polish lower house voted overwhelmingly to extend a state of emergency in parts of two regions along the border by two months.
The European Commission and Warsaw say the flow of migrants has been orchestrated by Belarus as a form of hybrid warfare designed to put pressure on the European Union over sanctions it imposed on Minsk.
(jh)
Source: PAP