Poland to deploy 2,000 more troops to border with Belarus

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Poland on Wednesday said it will deploy 2,000 more troops to the border with Belarus, instead of 1,000 as announced on Monday.

Not 1,000 but 2,000 troops will go to the border to support the work of the Border Guard, Poland’s state security agency, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said during an interview with state-run news agency PAP.

In line with the decision made by the Security Committee, the troops will reach the border within the next two weeks, he said.

On Monday, the Border Guard called for the deployment of 1,000 more troops to the border with Belarus amid mounting fears that Belarusian authorities could try to push migrants across the frontier in a repeat of the 2021 migration crisis, which saw hundreds of people trying to force their way into Poland.

Wasik also accused Belarus of orchestrating another migration influx into the EU via the Polish border.

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

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