In an interview with the state news agency PAP, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Maciej Wasik announced the decision and accused the Belarusian authorities of organizing illegal immigration.
The migratory pressure on the Poland-Belarus border, he assured, is increasing, although it is not compared to what it was two years ago. At the time, huge numbers of migrants from the Middle East and Africa arrived at the border with trips facilitated by the Belarusian government, in what Poland considered a kind of “hybrid warfare”.
“If there were real border guards on the other side and not a smuggling service, there would be no such crossings,” Wasik said.
The Polish authorities reacted by building a steel barrier on the border, which has reduced the flow of migrants and refugees, but has not stopped it entirely.
The fallout from Russia’s war against Ukraine has raised other concerns, including the presence of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group in Belarus, after they staged a brief uprising in Russia.
A few days ago, Belarus began military exercises near its border with Poland and Lithuania. And last week, two Belarusian helicopters briefly entered Polish airspace, in what Poland considered a deliberate provocation.
The new soldiers at the border will join the 2,000 already there, in support of the police and the Border Guard, according to PAP.
Wasik said the new force will arrive at the border in the next two weeks.
Polish President Andrzej Duda announced Tuesday that Poland will hold parliamentary elections on October 15. The political forces with whom he has allied himself are trying to show voters that they are serious about security and defense.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
