Poland’s top foreign official has pinned his hopes for tackling a growing migration problem on China, who he hopes can pressure Russia into ceasing a ‘hybrid operation’ on its eastern border. Foreign Minister Radoslow Sikorski is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday, just days after Poland closed its border with Belarus because of military drills launched by its neighbour in coordination with Russia. Mr Sikorski said Poland had spent half a billion euros constructing a fence along the 250-mile Belarusian border in response to a surge of migrant crossings over the last four years.
Border tensions erupted into violence last May when a Polish guard was attacked and killed by a migrant and Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused Belarus and Russia of “weaponising” illegal migration. The foreign minister pledged to press his Chinese counterpart to exert influence on Russia to halt activity in the region, which is a major trade route for China’s rail shipments into Europe.
“This is a very important topic and if he doesn’t bring it up, I will,” Mr Sikorski told TOK FM broadcaster ahead of his meeting with Mr Yi today. “If the border is to be fully open, there must be peace on both sides.”
It’s not the first time Poland has leaned on China to help deal with the border issue. Last year, then-President Andrzej Duda enlisted Bejing’s help during a state visit, which “helped for a few months”.
“But unfortunately, this hybrid operation has intensified again,” Mr Sikorski said. “So, we need to talk again.”
Poland shot down multiple Russian drones that entered its airspace with the help of NATO allies last week, in an incident the country’s defence officials called an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of strikes from Moscow on Ukraine.
Poland said some of the drones had come from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have been orchestrating joint military exercises and where the allies launched five days of ‘war games’ on Friday, reportedly to test their combat readiness.
It marked the most significant Russian incursion into Polish airspace since the invasion of Ukraine and a spokesperson for NATO said it was the first time the alliance had been forced to combat a potential threat in its airspace.
Russia’s Defence Ministry denied targeting Poland but Belarus said the drones had “lost their course” because they were jammed.
Chinese support of Russia has kept Vladimir Putin’s economy afloat since the full-scale invasion in 2022 and provided his military with drones, munitions and machinery to make weapons.