❓WHAT HAPPENED: Russian proxy Belarus is reportedly using underground tunnels to send migrants into the European Union (EU) as part of a hybrid warfare strategy.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Russia, Belarus, Polish officials, Bulgarian Interior Minister Daniel Mitov, and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The tactic has been ongoing since at least 2021, targeting Poland’s eastern border and other NATO states.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Illegal migration inflows are an instrument for hostile regimes to destabilize the European Union and the United Kingdom.” – Daniel Mitov
🎯IMPACT: The strategy aims to destabilize European welfare systems, increase social tensions, and divide NATO allies.
The Polish government is accusing Russia, through its proxy Belarus, of constructing and utilizing a network of underground tunnels under the Belarusian border to flood Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia with migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia as part of a hybrid warfare strategy against Europe. The Polish officials contend that experts from the Middle East with “a high level of expertise” have been involved in designing and digging these tunnels—insinuating that Russia and Belarus may be employing current or former members of Hamas who oversaw the construction of the Islamist terror group’s tunnel network under Gaza.
The tactic forms part of Belarus’ ongoing efforts to channel tens of thousands of migrants toward Poland’s eastern frontier. Belarusian security forces have been accused of escorting migrants to the Polish border while blocking their retreat, a practice referred to as “instrumentalized migration.” Since 2021, Belarus has relaxed entry rules for migrants from the Middle East and Africa, encouraging them to move toward NATO borders after they arrive.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Daniel Mitov stated that Russian security services are also aiding migrants in entering Britain and other European countries illegally. “They are aiming to destabilize the welfare systems, plus, of course, through smuggling radicalized individuals, they create security issues for us,” Mitov contends, while alleging that some European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aid these operations, knowingly or not.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, echoed these concerns, saying, “It is clear that illegal migration into Europe and beyond is being driven not just by organized crime networks seeking to make a profit, but by hostile state actors seeking to destabilize Europe.”
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