Polish Border Guard for deployment of more troops on border with Belarus

ATHENS

Poland’s Border Guard has called for the deployment of 1,000 more troops to its eastern border with Belarus, as authorities accused Minsk of orchestrating another migration influx, state media reported on Monday.

The state-run PAP news agency said there were mounting fears that the Belarusian authorities could try to push migrants across the frontier once again in a repeat of the 2021 migration crisis, which saw hundreds of people trying to force their way into Poland.

Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik also accused Belarus of orchestrating another migration influx into the European Union via the Polish border.

In the summer of 2021, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees crossed or attempted to cross into Poland from neighboring Belarus.

The alleged presence of the Wagner mercenary group near the border is also said to have added fuel to the situation. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the move was aimed at destabilizing the situation on NATO’s eastern flank.