Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński announced Sunday that 500 police officers would be sent to the Belarusian border to beef up security after a surge of migrants attempted to enter the country. Photo courtesy of Polish Border Guard/Twitter
July 2 (UPI) — Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński announced Sunday that 500 police officers would be sent to the Belarusian border to beef up security after a surge of migrants attempted to enter the country.
“Due to the tense situation on the border with Belarus, I decided to reinforce our forces with a group of 500 officers from riot control units and counter-terrorists,” Kamiński said in a tweet, adding that they would join thousands of Polish Border Guard agents and soldiers.
The Polish Border Guard said in a statement Sunday that 187 people illegally tried to enter Poland from Belarus. Authorities said 77 tried to enter illegally from Belarus on Friday and 28 on Thursday.
The flood of migrants comes after Belarus’ recent deals with Russia to store nuclear weapons and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s brokering of an agreement with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner Group, to end his recent rebellion against Russia’s military leadership.
Belarusian state media said last week that a “considerable number” of Russian nuclear weapons are now in Belarus as Lukashenko denied reports that Wagner Group mercenaries would be guarding them.
Belarus, a firm ally of Russia that assisted in the invasion of Ukraine, has not had nuclear weapons since the early 1990s when it agreed to give its stockpiles of former Soviet Union arms to Russia upon the collapse of the USSR.
“Wagner is not going to guard any nuclear weapons. The weapons will have their guard and they already have their guard today since part of the nuclear weapons, I am not going to say how many, the larger part has already been moved to Belarus,” Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko on Friday said that he “insisted” on having the nuclear weapons in Belarus as he sought to assure his citizens that the country “will never have to use them.”
“The enemy will never set foot on our land as long as we have them,” Lukashenko said.
However, Lukashenko added Saturday that “Western politicians are pushing Europe to the nuclear showdown.”
“Will Western politicians realize that they are pushing Europe to the nuclear showdown? Do they seriously think that they will get off with a small sacrifice — Vilnius and Europe?” Lukashenko said of the Lithuanian capital where a major NATO summit is soon to be held.
“God forbid, the worst war in history will break out. It will be hot not only in Warsaw, Kiev or Vilnius. We, Europe as a civilization, will disappear. But they don’t need it. Neither do we. Belarus and Russia are categorically not interested in such an outcome.”
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