WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The European Union's border with Russian ally Belarus has become more dangerous because of Russia’s military presence there, and securing the frontier is the Polish government’s top priority, Poland's ruling party leader said Thursday.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a deputy prime minister and head of the conservative Law and Justice party, made the comments while visiting the village of Koden on the EU’s border with Belarus. Later Thursday, Polish defense minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, met with troops serving on the border, in Polowce.
Amid Russia's aggression in Ukraine, thousands of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries have deployed to Belarus over the past month, and the Kremlin says it also has moved some of its short-range nuclear weapons into Belarus.
“We want to say it clearly: We are doing everything that is needed and that is sufficient for us to easily repel any potential provocations or aggressive undertakings,” from the Belarus side, Kaczynski said.
Last year, Poland's right-wing government built a tall wall along the border with Belarus aiming to stop a swelling wave of unauthorized migration from the Middle East and Africa which it said was organized by Minsk and Moscow in order to destabilize the EU.
Hundreds of additional Polish Border Guard and military forces were deployed to the border. Humanitarian organizations and the Border Guard in the region say that some unauthorized crossings are still taking place there.
Kaczynski called the migrant pressure an “attack” and said it is “continuing, to a much smaller degree," but that it could worsen at any moment due to the presence of Wagner forces. He said border security is the government's priority and vowed more barriers.
Poland also shares a border with Russia's city and administrative region Kaliningrad and crossings there have been closed.
In Polowce, Blaszczak said that through history Russia has posed a threat to neighboring nations.
“This is why Polish troops are present in our country's east, this is why new army units are being formed in its east ... to prevent Russia from deciding to enter Poland," Blaszczak said. “This is our deterrence doctrine that we have been consistently implementing,” he added.
