2023-08-08 14:09 update: 2023-08-10, 21:08
Photo PAP/Michał Zieliński
The Polish Defence Ministry will deploy additional troops to the country’s border with Belarus, the ministry announced on Tuesday.
It a statement to PAP, the MoD said that Mariusz Blaszczak, the defence minister, had agreed to a Border Guard (SG) request for a further troops. Although the ministry gave no troop numbers the SG request was for 1,000 soldiers.
There are already around 2,000 troops stationed on the border along with hundreds of police and Border Guard officers.
The request follows a number of attacks on Polish security forces launched from Belarus.
There are also mounting fears that the Belarusian authorities could try to push migrants across the frontier once again in a repeat of the 2021 migration crisis that saw hundreds of people trying to force their way into Poland.
The Defence Ministry said that "due to the dynamic situation on the Polish-Belarusian border and the request of the Border Guard Commander for increased border protection, the Minister of National Defence has ordered the implementation of the request and the deployment of additional soldiers assigned to patrol the Polish-Belarusian border and to participate in operation 'Safe Podlasie'."
At a press conference on Monday, Maciej Wasik, a deputy interior minister, said that the entire illegal migration process is organised by the Belarusian Border Guards.
"It would not be possible to cross (the border - PAP) without the participation of the Belarusian forces," he said. "We need more forces on the border." (PAP)
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