English Section

Polish PM, MPs discuss geopolitical risks

29.11.2021 21:30
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday met with opposition lawmakers to discuss the geopolitical situation surrounding the country, the state PAP news agency reported. 
Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. PAP/Hanna Bardo

The three-hour meeting followed Morawiecki's tour of European capitals last week, as Poland seeks to resolve a migrant crisis on its border with Belarus.

The gathering also came in the wake of reports that Russia was massing troops along its border with Ukraine. 

The government's spokesman, Piotr Müller, told reporters that everyone present at the talks "shared an awareness of the seriousness of the situation."

He added that opposition lawmakers had been "briefed on the threats coming directly from Belarus," as well as those "flowing from the general geopolitical situation, including the strategies which may be employed by Russia."

Müller stressed that some of the information had been supplied by NATO. 

Risks from Russia

According to Müller, geopolitical risks include Russia's capacity to manipulate energy deliveries and gas prices on the European market, combined with "its ability to control deliveries to Ukraine, with a view to destabilising that country, alongside other operations on Ukrainian territory."

He told reporters that "the discussion was constructive" and that "fundamentally we agree in our assessments of the real risks coming from the East, in terms of energy, orchestrated migration flows, cyber activity and disinformation, which undermine the political situation in the European Union."

Müller added that "according to the government, there is a possibility of an increased migrant influx through Russia and Belarus from Afghanistan."

"It all adds up to a serious picture, a serious risk, which may materialise in the next few months as the winter comes," he also said.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller. Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Border crisis

The months-long migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has escalated in recent weeks, with Poland, the European Union and its member states, as well as NATO and the United States accusing Belarus' strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the standoff in retaliation for Western sanctions against his regime.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info