Europe

Poland sends more troops to Belarus border after ‘airspace breach’

Tensions have been growing after Wagner mercenary forces moved into Belarus under deal with Moscow

Polish border guards patrol by the metal wall between the Polish Belarusian border in Jurowlany, Poland last month. Photograph: Omar Marques/Getty Images

Tue Aug 1 2023 - 21:33

Poland will send more troops to protect its border with Belarus and has summoned the country’s envoy in Warsaw to protest what it described as the violation of its airspace by two Belarusian helicopters on Tuesday.

The Polish foreign ministry called on Belarus to “immediately and in detail” explain the incident, which it said was an element of the escalation of border tensions between the two countries. “Poland expects Belarus to refrain from such activities,” according to a statement.

Separately, the defence ministry said it has notified Nato about the incident. Its additional military deployment will include combat helicopters.

The tensions have been growing after Wagner mercenary forces moved into Belarus under a deal ending the aborted mutiny last month by the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned on Saturday that some of the fighters may attempt to infiltrate his country alongside illegal migrants.

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Speaking months ahead of an election, the premier provided little to back the assertion, which echoed Belarus’s decision to send migrants — mostly from the Middle East — across the Polish and Baltic borders in 2020, a move that fomented chaos at the frontier and escalated tensions with the European Union.

John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters on Tuesday that the US was not aware of any specific threats posed by Wagner to Poland or any other Nato member. Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda also warned this week that the private Russian military company could conduct “various provocations” across the border. — Bloomberg

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