Poland sends policemen to border with Belarus
Due to a tense situation on Poland's border with Belarus caused by the stationing of the Russian Wagner mercenary group in that country, the interior minister has decided to send policemen there to better protect the frontier.
"In connection with a tense situation on the border with Belarus, I have decided to strengthen our forces by means of sending 500 policemen from prevention and anti-terrorist units," Mariusz Kaminski said on Sunday.
"They will join 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers who have been protecting the security of this part of the Polish border," Kaminski wrote on Twitter.
Last week, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, said Poland was responding to the Wagner group's presence in Belarus by reinforcing its defences in the east.
The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organisation led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged a 24-hour mutiny against the Russian military commanders which ended after the Belarusian strongman, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to mediate between Prigozhin and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin stopped his march on Moscow after he and his troops were promised safe haven in Belarus.
According to a Polish deputy foreign minister, provocations by the Wagner group in Belarus can be expected especially before the July Nato summit in Vilnius.
Wojciech Skurkiewicz told Polish Radio on Friday that the Wagner group could be expected to conduct hostile operations against Ukraine, and possibly Poland and Lithuania, from Belarusian territory. (PAP)
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