Poland will increase its military strength to about 10,000 troops on the border with Belarus, Russia’s ally, as a deterrent, Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced this Thursday.
Initially, Polish authorities had announced a reinforcement of 1,000 soldiers, increased to 2,000 on Wednesday, to be sent within two weeks.
“About 10,000 soldiers will be at the border: 4,000 will directly support the border guard and 6,000 will be in reserve,” Blaszczak told public broadcaster Polskie Radio, quoted by Spain’s agency EFE.
Poland already has 2,000 soldiers on the border with Belarus, as well as more than 5,000 border guards and 500 riot police.
Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union (EU), has recently warned of the threat of provocations from Belarus and of potential dangers posed by the presence of the Russian mercenary group Wagner in the neighboring country.
Fighters of the Wagner Group, which has been active in the ongoing war against Ukraine since February 24, 2022, were transferred to Belarus in June after a brief uprising against the Russian military hierarchy.
Poland and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank have accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of opening the migration route in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West, the US agency AP said.
According to Warsaw, 19,000 migrants have tried to enter Poland since the beginning of the year, compared to 16,000 in all of 2022. In July, the attempts involved more than 4,000 migrants.
In an interview with Polish Radio, the defense minister described as a provocation a statement approved on Wednesday in Minsk at a meeting of patriotic forces of Belarus supporting President Alexander Lukashenko.
In the statement addressed to the “Polish brothers”, quoted by the Belarusian Belta and Polish PAP agencies, the patriotic forces accuse Warsaw of statements that “feed the fire of the war”.
“We are determined to defend our home, our families and our sacred Motherland. History has many examples of how Belarusians rejected the invasion of the West. Do not rush to experience this,” they say.
“It is clear that this is a provocation,” Minister Blaszczak said on public radio.
“We have to be prepared for different scenarios, we don’t exclude anything. That’s why we decided to send troops to the border to intimidate the aggressor,” he added.
Last week, Warsaw denounced the incursion of two Belarusian helicopters into Polish airspace, with the Belarus Defense Ministry describing the allegations as far-fetched.
According to Minsk, Warsaw’s accusations serve to “justify the accumulation of troops and equipment [militar] near the Belarusian border”.
The Polish minister also said he had accepted a proposal from Germany to keep the German Patriot missile launchers in Poland until the end of the year.
“This is a good solution, which will complement our air defense system, while our own Patriot systems are not enough,” said Blaszczak.
A few months ago, the US State Department approved the sale to Poland of 48 Patriot missile launchers, 600 PAC systems (Patriot Advanced Capabilities) and three MSE systems (Missile Segment Enhanced) for about 15 billion euros.
Source: DN
