According to Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland will strengthen its border, сообщаетTVP.info . Wagnerians in Belarus are dangerous primarily for Ukraine, but also potentially for Poland and Lithuania. This means a more complex phase of hybrid warfare, Kaczynski said.
It is expected that the fighters from the Wagner group will be in Belarus. This group of ruthless mercenaries poses a threat to all countries bordering Belarus. In this regard, the Committee of the Council of Ministers on National Security and Defense was convened in Poland, which was headed by Jaroslaw Kaczynski instead of Mariusz Blaszczak on June 28.
"We have in Belarus, at least potentially, a new situation, namely, the presence of the Wagner group. Judging by the data we have, there are about 8 thousand of them. This is an element that poses a danger to Ukraine, and they understand this. It is also potentially dangerous for Lithuania. And, finally, it can be dangerous for us as well – it can mean a new phase of hybrid warfare; a phase much more complex than the one we have dealt with so far," Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said after the Committee meeting.
Strengthening the border with Belarus
"In this regard, decisions were made regarding the strengthening of our defense on the eastern border – we are talking about both certain one-time events and measures that will be permanent. We will strengthen the units that will be present there on a permanent basis, as well as strengthen various fortifications that will protect our border in the event of an attack. Of course, there is no certainty of an attack, but the security policy is inherently focused on the most negative scenarios, therefore, guided by this principle, we made these decisions," Kaczynski added.
He was also asked what the strengthening of the border with Belarus would look like in practice and whether units of the Polish army, border service or police would be moved there.
"It is not my task to discuss things that are, at least, an official secret, and often a secret of the highest level (...). We want this border – if, of course, some forecasts come true, but, God willing, everything will work out – to be protected even better than it was protected in the the time of the attacks that we have dealt with before," he stressed.
In connection with the appearance of the Wagner group in Belarus, the Deputy Prime Minister was asked whether the risks in the area of the Polish-Russian border, near Kaliningrad, had increased.
"At the moment we do not notice any signs," Jaroslaw Kaczynski replied.
The fifth article of NATO
One of the journalists also asked if Poland is negotiating with the Alliance on the issue of the appearance of Wagner, given that the eastern border of Poland is also the eastern flank of NATO.
"Naturally, we are in constant contact with the allies, [...] but at the same time we proceed from the fact that protecting the Polish border from a hybrid attack is our task. But if these attacks took on the character of an armed attack, then, of course, we would be in a situation where the Fifth Article is involved," Kaczynski said. He also added that "such a situation may happen, but we do not consider it as particularly likely." "Apparently, we will deal – if anything happens – with the intensification of a hybrid attack, but with the participation of people incomparably more dangerous than migrants," the Deputy Prime Minister summed up.
