Belarus hybrid ‘tactics’ show need for smarter defence – EU

BELGIUM: Worsening tensions on the European Union’s eastern border, where Polish forces have used water cannons against restive crowds of people seeking to cross from Belarus, demonstrates the need for smarter defence co-operation, the bloc’s chief diplomat has said.

Josep Borrell spoke after presenting a strategy to defence ministers to build the EU’s joint response capabilities.

“We are witnessing instability, conflicts, transnational threats that impact our security. And certainly using hybrid tactics such as we see today at the border with Belarus is something that some months ago was even difficult to imagine,” Mr Borrell told reporters following the meeting.

“The classic distinction between war and peace has been diminishing. It’s not black and white. The world is full of hybrid situations, where we face intermediate dynamics of competition, intimidation and coercion. And what we are seeing today in the Polish and Lithuanian border with Belarus is a typical example of that.”

The meeting coincided with heightened concern over Russian troop movements near Ukraine and a worsening of the situation on the Polish-Belarus border, where thousands of people hoping to migrate to the EU have been flown in from mostly Middle Eastern countries by the dictatorial Minsk regime.

Trapped between lines of Polish and Belarusian border guards and with winter temperatures plunging, frustrations boiled over on Tuesday and some men began hurling rocks and debris at the Polish forces, while others attempted to break through a frontier fence.

The border forces responded with water cannons, driving back the men as a loudspeaker broadcast the warning “Attention, attention, if you don’t follow orders, force will be used against you”, footage showed.

– IRISH TIMES