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Polish PM praises completion of Belarus border wall

30.06.2022 14:00
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday visited an area near his country's border with Belarus to mark the completion of a steel wall designed to keep out illegal migrants. 
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki meets reporters near the newly completed steel wall on the border with Belarus, in the village of Kuźnica, on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki meets reporters near the newly completed steel wall on the border with Belarus, in the village of Kuźnica, on Thursday, June 30, 2022.PAP/Artur Reszko

Mateusz Morawiecki travelled to the border village of Kuźnica, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

The 187-kilometre barrier has been constructed in response to a border crisis that saw thousands of migrants try to cross illegally into Poland from Belarus late last year.

Morawiecki told reporters on Thursday: “The bloodiest war since World War II is taking place across our eastern border [in Ukraine]. Today, we see that this war has had its first chapter beforehand - Mr. Lukashenko's attack on the Polish border.”

The regime of Belarus’ strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko had encouraged those fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East and Africa to cross illegally into Poland. 

The European Union, NATO and the United States last year accused Lukashenko of orchestrating the migrant crisis in retaliation for Western sanctions against his regime. 

Morawiecki told reporters on Thursday: “Immigrants were pushed by Belarus border guards into Polish territory. Even then, our services, police officers and soldiers, rose to the occasion and defended our border.” 

He added: “Several months later, events turned even more tragic when Mr. Putin attacked Ukraine.”

The Polish prime minister also said that the steel wall “is necessary to protect the Polish border and allow us to concentrate on areas where a battle is playing out today for the future of Europe and the future of Poland.” 

Morawiecki went on to say that the border wall “shows our effectiveness" and "demonstrates that we are responsible, prudent and far-sighted.”

He thanked Poland’s border guards and police officers for protecting the country against the influx of illegal migrants.

He also thanked them for their "empathy, for being able to put themselves in the shoes of people who had somehow managed to reach Polish territory,” the PAP news agency reported.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAPwydarzenia.interia.pl