Belarus art festival could renew pressure on Poland

2/6/2023 6:22

        A visa waiver for
        participants of an art festival in Belarus in July could serve
        as a gateway for migrants and renew pressure on Poland's eastern
        border, a senior Polish security official said on Thursday.
        
        Poland has been a refuge for opponents of Belarus President
        Alexander Lukashenko, and has become one of Kyiv's staunchest
        supporters since Belarus' main ally Russia invaded Ukraine in
        February 2022.
        
        It has also accused Belarus of artificially creating a
        migrant crisis on the border by flying in people from the Middle
        East and Africa and attempting to push them across the frontier.
        
        In response to the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants,
        mainly from the Middle East and Afghanistan, Poland built a
        steel border barrier, but its border guard still reports dozens
        of attempts to enter Poland illegally daily.
        
        "A potential new reason for attracting migrants from
        high-risk countries to Belarus could be the International Art
        Festival 'Slavonic Bazaar' in Vitebsk," Stanislaw Zaryn, deputy
        to Minister Coordinator of Special Services wrote on Twitter.
        
        By decree of Lukashenko, participants and guests of the July
        event from 73 countries, including the Middle East, Africa and
        Latin America, would be exempt from visa requirements for
        entering Belarus.
        
        "The migration facilitation introduced, if successful, may
        lead to an increase in the influx of people to Belarus, which
        Lukashenko's services will use to intensify the hybrid operation
        conducted on our eastern border," Zaryn wrote.
        
        Festival ticket holders will be able to enter Belarus
        without a visa from between July 4-23, a Belarus government
        website says.
        
        No-one from the Belarusian embassy in Warsaw was immediately
        available for comment.