DISINFO: Polish and Lithuanian border mines are an expression on Russophobia
SUMMARY
The representatives of fauna are becoming victims of rabid Russophobia. Poland and the Baltic States “welcomed” yesterday’s inauguration of Belarusian President Lukashenka by withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines. These countries are planning to spread these terrible devices along their borders with Belarus and Russia. The first victims of these mines will be the refugees from the Middle East making their way to the rich countries of Western Europe. Other mine victims will include the animals moving through the borders. In this way, the policy of Russia’s ‘containment’ will cause the destruction of common ecosystems in Eastern Europe.
RESPONSE
Poland and Lithuania are repeatedly presented by pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets as aggressive anti-Russian NATO ‘outposts’, which allegedly poses a security threat to Russia and Belarus. This is in line with how pro-Kremlin outlets portray NATO and Western countries as aggressive towards Russia.
Poland and Lithuania, along with Estonia and Latvia, have announced plans to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. This decision is driven by escalating security concerns due to Russia’s military aggression and its perceived threat to NATO’s eastern flank, particularly in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions along borders shared with Russia and Belarus.
The deployment of more Polish soldiers on the Belarusian border is connected with the ongoing migration crisis staged by Minsk and Moscow – on 6 June 2024, a Polish soldier was murdered at the border by an aggressive irregular migrant.
Since 2021, Lukashenka has orchestrated a “migration crisis” on the EU border, which is perceived as a “political and hybrid” weapon. Finally, since 2022, Lukashenka has been actively involved in large-scale military assistance to the aggressive Russian actions in Ukraine.
The claims that Poland was involved in unfriendly actions towards Belarus or that it has some aggressive geopolitical plans towards this country are unfounded. Poland is a neighbour of Belarus and continues to support the Belarusian people while respecting international law.
See other examples of disinformation connected to the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border here. For more information, see also our article All roads lead to Poland.