March 15, 2024 (EIRNS)—Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski was in Helsinki where he met with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. The Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two discussed “military aid to Ukraine, hybrid threats from Russia and Belarus, as well as preparations for the NATO summit in Washington.” According to the Polish Foreign Ministry, Sikorski and Valtonen talked about “bilateral relations, but also the key issue of security in Europe, including hybrid threats on the eastern borders of the European Union.” The two “agreed on the need to continue cooperation to combat hybrid activities exploiting migratory pressure,” the statement said, reported Polish Radio. Both Poland, in the case of Belarus, and Finland, in the case of Russia, have claimed that migrants primarily from Southwest Asia and Africa have been used as weapons against the stability of Europe by Minsk and Moscow. The Finnish border crossings with Russia have been closed since last December, following the arrival of 1,300 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers starting last August. Finnish authorities claimed that the arrivals were a “hybrid attack” in retribution for joining NATO, the Moscow Times reported on March 9.
Other topics on the Polish-Lithuanian agenda included “the situation in Ukraine and how it can develop in 2024,” a plan to use “frozen Russian assets to support and rebuild Ukraine, as well as the issue of Russia’s accountability for international crimes committed against Ukraine,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said. “It will be important to tighten and strengthen the sanctions system, as well as to introduce solutions allowing the use of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Sikorski also met with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb. Their talks focused on “the security situation in the region, assistance to Ukraine and bilateral cooperation,” according to the Polish Foreign Ministry. It said Sikorski’s meetings with Valtonen and Stubb “confirmed that Poland and Finland speak with one voice on many important issues.”