Authorities in Poland have thrown accusations towards Russia and Belarus of preparing another migrant crisis in order to destabilize the region.
Besides, according to Info Migrants, about 20,000 people have attempted to reach Poland from Belarus so far this year.
The government of Poland has accused Belarus and Russia of planning another influx of migrants into the bloc through the Polish borders in order to destabilise the region, while this is not the first time that Belarus has received such accusations.
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Maciej Wasik, told journalists earlier this week that this amounted to an operation organised by the Russian and the Belarusian secret services, which is becoming more and more intense.
Authorities in Poland have said that since the beginning of this year, at least 19,000 people have attempted to cross the border into Poland, in comparison to 16,000 attempts registered during the same period last year. In addition, last month alone, Polish border services registered about 3,900 attempts to cross the border last month alone.
Recently, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Maciej Wasik, announced that the country plans to send an additional 2,000 troops to Poland’s borders with Belarus in order to reinforce the country’s eastern border.
Wasik noted that the decision came following the surge in the number of migrants who are attempting to reach Poland.
“This will not be a reinforcement of 1,000 but of 2,000 soldiers,” Wasik told the PAP state news agency. In addition, he added that the move was approved by the Defence Minister following a request from the national border agency for extra manpower.
The troops will be deployed within two weeks and will join the 2,000 soldiers that at present are placed near the border with Belarus.
Border Guard, Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, emphasized that Poland is planning to move 10,000 additional troops to the country’s common border with Belarus, based on a report from Radio Free Europe.
“About 10,000 soldiers will be on the border, of which 4,000 will directly support the Border Guard, and 6,000 will be in reserve,” the minister stressed.
In addition, last month, the Interior Minister of Poland said that his country, together with Lithuania and Latvia, could jointly agree to close their borders with Belarus if there are some serious incidents involving the Wagner group along their borders.
Besides, based on local media reports, Lithuania’s Interior Ministry said it plans to close two of the six country’s checkpoints with Belarus by August 15.
