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A NATO official called the use of migrants ‘a hybrid tactic’, meaning a combined military-political operation, and said: ‘NATO stands ready to further assist our allies, and maintain safety and security in the region’.
Poland’s Secret Service minister Stanislaw Zaryn said there was ‘between 3,000 and 4,000 people in the vicinity of the Polish border.’
‘Migrants, and subsequent transports arrive in Belarus from Arab countries. - Polish borders are attacked in an organized manner, we will strengthen forces,’ he said.
The former President of the European Community has now called upon NATO to help with the mounting crisis on Poland’s border with Belarus.
Donald Tusk said Poland should consider triggering Article 4 of the Nato treaty, under which all member states are obliged to meet to examine issues of mutual concern including threats to territorial integrity, political independence or security.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Tusk who is the leader of Poland’s main opposition party Platforma Obywatelska said he was ‘very concerned about what is happening today and what will probably happen in the hours to come on our eastern border.’
He added: ‘Our relations with our eastern neighbour are about to deteriorate even further.
‘What is most important is perhaps to consider whether we should trigger Nato’s Article 4 if our border is under direct threat from physical pressure with Belarusian involvement, and I mean Belarusian state services.’
Charities say the migrants face gruelling conditions while trying to cross the border from Belarus, enduring freezing weather and a lack of food, water and medical attention.
There are more than a thousand people in the group of refugees near the border with Poland, including many women and children, reported RIA Novosti after speaking with Belarusian border guards.
The border guards said that migrants ‘do not pose a threat yet,’ but their statements came amid reports that Lukashenko was sending heavily armed riot police towards the border.
‘At the moment, a large group of refugees with belongings are moving along the road to the border with Poland,’ said the Belarusian border committee in a statement.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk said on Polish public radio this weekend: ‘Belarus wants to cause a major incident, preferably with shots fired and casualties.
Translation: “It’s working like a charm in the US. Let’s destabilize eastern Europe now.”
Pepper spray will not cut it. Poland needs tear gas machines that blow it right at the would be invaders. Hose them down with that stuff!