Poland to Deploy 2,000 Troops To Reinforce Belarus Border

Poland will ship an extra 2,000 troops to strengthen its border with Belarus, a deputy inside minister informed Poland’s state news company on Wednesday, amid heightened tensions within the space associated to the conflict in Ukraine.

The minister, Maciej Wasik, stated that the deployment was double what the nation’s Border Guard had requested and that the reinforcements would arrive in two weeks, based on PAP, Poland’s state news company. There was no instant response from Belarus.

While Mr. Wasik didn’t specify to PAP what had prompted the choice, the deployment comes as issues are mounting in Poland, a NATO member, over the presence of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner non-public navy firm in neighboring Belarus.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, stated final week that there have been at the least 4,000 Wagner fighters in Belarus. He warned in opposition to “provocations” and “sabotage actions” from Belarus by the relocated Wagner fighters, a warning that got here days after two Belarusian helicopters breached Polish airspace, heightening jitters within the area.

The Wagner fighters had been relocated to Belarus following their short-lived June mutiny in Russia. Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, shares a large border with each Poland, which helps Ukraine.

In late July, Poland stated it could transfer navy forces to its japanese border with Belarus, after the Belarusian Defense Ministry stated its troopers had been being educated close to there by Wagner fighters.

Wagner’s future has been in query because the aborted mutiny, which got here to an finish after President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus brokered a deal that allowed the Wagner forces to relocate to his nation.