Poland warns Russian Wagner mercenaries may try to infiltrate EU from Belarus

Poland’s prime minister has claimed Wagner troops stationed in Belarus near the Polish border may launch a “hybrid attack” and try to infiltrate the EU.

Mateusz Morawiecki raised concerns at reports that troops from the mercenary group appeared to have moved within Belarus close to Poland’s borders.

Speaking at a press conference in Gliwice, Poland on Saturday, he said: “We have information that over 100 mercenaries of the Wagner Group have moved towards the [border].

“This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”

Wagner operatives and the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly struck a deal with President Vladimir Putin to move to Belarus after a failed uprising in June against Russian military leaders.

Mr Morawiecki said that some troops have since taken up positions to the Suwałki Gap – the security-critical border region between Nato states Poland and Lithuania, which is flanked by both Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Mr Morawiecki, whose right-wing Law and Justice Party takes a tough stance on migrants, claimed that Wagner’s presence could worsen the situation on the border, which has seen more than 16,000 attempted illegal crossings this year.

“Now the situation becomes even more dangerous”, he said.

Poland has previously accused Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin, of shipping migrants to Belarus and encouraging them to cross over into Poland in a bid to destabilise the neighbouring state.

Mr Morawiecki claimed Wagner mercenaries may be disguised as Belarusian border guards to help illegal immigrants enter Polish territory and destabilise Poland, or that they may try to enter Polish territory posing as migrants themselves.

His comments come days after Poland’s interior minister warned Poland, Lithuania and Latvia could jointly decide to shut their borders to Belarus if there are serious incidents involving the Wagner group along the frontiers.

Mariusz Kaminski said: “Undoubtedly, should there be serious incidents involving the Wagner group on the borders of Nato and EU countries, such as Poland, Lithuania or Latvia, we will undoubtedly take an action together.

“I do not exclude that if we decide that this is the right answer at the moment, we will lead to the complete isolation of Belarus.”

Both Poland and Lithuania have put up fences along their borders with Belarus, to try and precent the number of illegal crossings.

Tensions have been rising in the area in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Poland deployed military units to the east after Wagner mercenaries began training Belarusian special forces a few miles from its border.

Two days later Vladimir Putin accused Poland of having territorial ambitions and said any aggression against Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. Poland has denied planning any attack on Belarus.

But deputy prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński, chair of the Law and Justice Party, said on Friday Wagner fighters were “not in Belarus for fun”.

He said: “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.”