Poland, Baltics will shut Belarus border if ‘critical incident involving Wagner mercenaries’ occurs: Polish Minister

Poland and the Baltic states have said they will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a “critical incident” involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Monday.

European Union members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which share a border with Belarus, have been increasingly concerned about border security since hundreds of Russian battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Poland has also seen an increase in the number of mainly Middle Eastern and African migrants trying to cross the border in recent months and has accused Belarus of helping them in their illegal migration bid.

“We demand from the authorities in Minsk that the Wagner Group immediately leave the territory of Belarus and that illegal migrants immediately leave the border area and are sent back to their home countries,” Kaminski told a press briefing.

“If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately. All border crossings that have been opened so far will be closed,” he said.

Earlier, on Friday Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in an area just north of Moscow. The fatal crash is believed to have wiped out most of the top leadership of the Wagner group.