In a resolution passed on Wednesday, the lower house of Poland's parliament, the Sejm, said that "the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has attacked Poland by importing thousands of migrants and using them in an assault on the Polish borders."
"Not in many years has our country faced such a big threat to its security and the integrity of its frontiers," the resolution said.
"In the hour of need, the Polish Sejm expresses its solidarity in this matter with the Polish government as well as all the state institutions and individuals taking part in the defence of Poland and the Polish people," it further stated, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
MPs also said they were "grateful to the local community and everyone providing support to our border forces and humanitarian assistance to the victims of this crisis, for which the Belarusian government is solely responsible."
"If we stand together, we will repel this attack on our country," the resolution added, urging "all Polish people" to "stand in solidarity."
The resolution was passed with the votes of MPs from the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party as well as the rural-based Polish People's Party (PSL), the former junior coalition partner Agreement, and various smaller groupings, PAP reported.
Meanwhile, most lawmakers from the centrist opposition Civic Coalition (KO) abstained, while left-leaning MPs voted against the resolution, the Polish news agency said.
Migrant crisis
The migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has grown since the summer, with Poland, the European Union and its member states, as well as NATO and the United States accusing Alexander Lukashenko, the autocratic leader of Belarus, of orchestrating the standoff in retaliation for Western sanctions against his regime.
EU foreign ministers on Monday gave the green light for a widening of the sanctions in response to Minsk's actions.
Lukashenko has denied luring vulnerable people, including Kurds from the Middle East, with the false promise of easy access to the EU and sending them across the bloc's border.
Tensions at Polish-Belarusian border
Poland's Border Guard said on Thursday it had recorded more than 500 illegal attempts to cross from Belarus over the past 24 hours. Since the start of the year, almost 34,000 such attempts have been recorded, the agency's data showed.
On Tuesday, the border standoff turned violent as migrants pelted Polish forces with rocks and stun grenades near the checkpoint in Kuźnica, officials told reporters.
Since September 2, Warsaw has kept the border zone under a state of emergency in the face of the migrant pressure.
Poland plans to build a solid fence along the Belarus frontier, crowned with barbed wire and fitted with electronic surveillance devices. The protective wall is due to be ready by mid-2022.
EU, NATO, US, UN nations condemn Belarus
The United States has called on Russia to use its influence over Belarus "to cease its callous exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this week amid the deepening migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
US State Secretary Antony Blinken at the weekend reaffirmed America's support for Poland amid the crisis on the EU member's border with Belarus.
The United States and European members of the UN Security Council last week condemned Belarus for the “orchestrated instrumentalization" of migrants as tensions rose along the Polish-Belarusian border.
The Polish prime minister has said that NATO must take steps to help resolve the crisis on the Belarus border, adding that Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia may ask for consultations under Article 4 of the alliance's treaty.
Poland's envoy to the United Nations, Krzysztof Szczerski, has warned that the international community needs to act before the deepening migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border spins out of control, undermining the security and stability of the region.
Polish lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation to strengthen the country's frontiers amid simmering tensions on the border with Belarus.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP