Poland’s Defense Ministry has given the green light to deploy an additional 1,000 soldiers to its border with Belarus, in response to escalating unauthorized crossing attempts.
The Polish news agency “PAP” reported that the Polish Border Guard had requested the Defense Ministry to strengthen the Polish-Belarusian border with an extra 1,000 troops. The Border Guard stated that at least 19,000 individuals have already tried to cross the 250-mile-long border this year, marking an increase from the 16,000 registered in 2022.
These developments follow the Polish Defense Ministry’s decision to already send over a thousand soldiers to the border in recent weeks. This move came amid growing concerns about the presence of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, within pro-Russian Belarus.
The new troop deployment follows a series of incidents, some of which were violent, occurring at the border. Growing fears persist that Belarusian authorities might push migrants across the border again, reminiscent of the 2021 migration crisis when hundreds tried to force their way into Poland.
Notably, the Border Guard recorded around 3,900 crossing attempts in July alone. It was the same month that the Wagner Group announced its training initiative with the Belarusian army, with an audacious claim of making it the “second-best army in the world”. This proclamation led the Polish Border Guard to request an additional 1,000 soldiers to be sent to the Belarus border.
