MINSK, 4 November (BelTA) - Warsaw's systemic attempts to fuel tensions on the Belarusian-Polish border groundlessly and theatrically are very alarming, reads a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, BelTA has learned.
"A statement for the media about some ‘intrusion' of unidentified ‘armed uniformed individuals' from the territory of Belarus on 2 November is again unfounded. As in previous cases, with Poland's advanced technical capabilities, for some reasons the country provides no evidence to confirm its most odious allegations,” the document says. “No photo, video, time or other objective control data have been provided. Actually, there can't be any because it's a lie."
The MFA said that Poland has not provided a single piece of evidence in response to its requests.
"Instead of making use of the time-tested bilateral mechanisms for the effective clarification and resolution of such incidents, Warsaw has purposefully resorted to megaphone diplomacy, dogmatic statements for the media and meaningless populist moves like sending humanitarian convoys no one has asked for. No international issue has ever been resolved by such instruments or ever will be," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the statement.
It is quite obvious that this set of actions is a regular provocation and a systemic attempt to demonize Belarus. The goal of the Polish government is to divert the attention of the international community from its own flagrant mistreatment of migrants and refugees, from the gross violation of human rights obligations, and to justify, in the eyes of the Polish public, the unpopular steps to erect a fence and militarize the border.
“We understand that Poland needs to raise tensions in order to get additional funding for the construction of the ‘Warsaw Iron Curtain'. It is no coincidence that this theatrics happened at a time when the law to build a permanent fence on the border with Belarus came into force,” the statement reads. “However, we do not accept the use of Belarus as a smokescreen by the Polish government to deceive Polish people and taxpayers.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that even more alarming is the fact that provocations against Belarus are aimed at cultivating belligerent attitudes in Polish society, the EU and NATO as a whole to justify Poland's policy towards militarizing the country in favor of short-term domestic political ambitions.
“Fake news and artificial creation of an imaginary military threat are clearly aimed at involving major geopolitical players in the situation, including in the run-up to the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Riga. This extremely risky game is like putting a flame next to a powder keg. It is irresponsible. The security of the entire region is at stake,” the statement runs.
“In this regard, we reiterate that Belarus does not question the right and ability of Poland, as well as any other state, to defend its borders. Any escalation in the region is absolutely unfavorable for Belarus. Belarus has never provoked border incidents and does not intend to in the future. Once again, we urge the Polish side to realize the futility of the policy to put pressure on the sovereign neighboring state and to make full use of diplomatic channels and other established forms of interstate and interdepartmental communication to resolve issues requiring joint consideration, rather than create the appearance of that,” the document reads.
