Minister Władyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz was speaking after a meeting with the defense ministers of Germany and France, Boris Pistorius and Sébastien Lecornu, in Paris on Monday.
The three countries together form a regional cooperation format called the Weimar Triangle, which was set up in 1991.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “There are no migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border today. There are people assaulting Polish soldiers, police officers, and border guards, and they are well trained and prepared.”
Poland has been dealing with a mounting crisis at its eastern border since 2021.
Aleksander Lukashenko’s regime has been luring migrants and asylum seekers to Belarus with promises of them being able to cross into the EU and funneling them toward the border.
Belarusian services then prevent them from turning back once the migrants' attempts at crossing the frontier are foiled by the Polish authorities.
The practice by Minsk came as a response to sanctions imposed on the Belarusian regime by the EU.
According to the Polish defense minister, this is “an organized hybrid operation” directed against Western countries, NATO, and the European Union.
“I have not asked for military support but for assistance from police and border guards,” the Polish defense minister clarified, adding that a strong and joint response from the EU was needed to fight hybrid attacks against Europe.
Kosiniak-Kamysz also warned that the results of such attacks would be painful not only for Poland.
Buffer zonePoland has recently established a so-called buffer zone on the Polish-Belarusian border. It covers a 60-kilometer-long strip of land in the Podlaskie province in the northeast of the country and is expected to ease the work of the Polish authorities.
In 2021, the then-governing party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), created a buffer zone for the same reasons. That zone was highly militarized and with access to it restricted.
The press and humanitarian aid workers were prevented from entering, drawing much criticism from human rights advocates and the previous opposition, now the ruling coalition.
According to the Polish interior minister, media and humanitarian aid workers will be granted passes to enter the new buffer zone.
