Poland says Wagner fighters being moved to Nato’s eastern flank
Warsaw warns of threat to destabilise region
03 August 2023 - 22:08
byPawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Picture: CARLOS OSORIO/REUTERS
Warsaw — Fighters from Russia’s private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to Nato’s eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.
Wagner soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. On Tuesday it accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.
“We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise,” Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.
“The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it.”
The politicians met in the Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated but strategically important area of Polish territory between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad that joins the Baltic states to other Nato members.
Nauseda said the number of Wagner fighters in Belarus could be higher than 4,000.
“We must not only talk about measures at the national level but also ... what should be done if this situation becomes even more complicated, including the closure of the border with Belarus,” Nauseda said.
“This should be done in a co-ordinated manner between Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.”
Belarus allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to use its territory as a launch pad for the Ukraine invasion, but has not committed its own troops to the war.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Poland says Wagner fighters being moved to Nato’s eastern flank
Warsaw warns of threat to destabilise region
Warsaw — Fighters from Russia’s private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to Nato’s eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.
Wagner soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. On Tuesday it accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.
“We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise,” Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.
“The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it.”
The politicians met in the Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated but strategically important area of Polish territory between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad that joins the Baltic states to other Nato members.
Nauseda said the number of Wagner fighters in Belarus could be higher than 4,000.
“We must not only talk about measures at the national level but also ... what should be done if this situation becomes even more complicated, including the closure of the border with Belarus,” Nauseda said.
“This should be done in a co-ordinated manner between Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.”
Belarus allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to use its territory as a launch pad for the Ukraine invasion, but has not committed its own troops to the war.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
HELMOED RÖMER HEITMAN: Friends like these hurt SA’s best interests
Russia fines Apple for ‘inaccurate’ content
Narendra Modi to travel to SA for Brics summit
Domestic violence soars in Ukraine, where offenders get as little as a $10 fine
Brazil’s Lula says neither Putin nor Zelensky ready for peace
Russia will return to grain deal ‘when West meets its obligations’
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.