Poland’s prime minister has warned that Russian mercenaries in the Wagner Group are trying to destabilise Nato.
During a meeting with the Lithuanian president. Gitanas Nauseda, in the Suwalki Gap on Lithuania’s southeastern border, Mateusz Morawiecki claimed that the fighters pose a serious threat to the stability of the bloc.
Speaking on Thursday, Morawiecki said: “Our borders have been stopping various hybrid attacks for years.
“Russia and Belarus are increasing their numerous provocations and intrigues in order to destabilise the border of Nato’s eastern flank.”
Both Lithuania and Poland are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). That means if they were attacked by Russia or Belarus, the rest of the bloc would likely retaliate under the organisation’s defence rules, even though its members have tried not to get directly involved in the Ukrainian war.
Although no Belarusian troops are involved in the war as yet, the country is becoming an increasingly important ally to Russia as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine drags on.
Similarly, Poland is one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters in the region.
Poland’s PM and the Lithuanian president met to discuss how some Wagner fighters have relocated from Russia to Belarus following the mercenary group’s aborted 24-hour coup on the Russian ministry of defence back in June.
The rebellion was halted after just one day when the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko intervened, and suggested the Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, should be exiled to his country.
When some Wagner fighters then moved to Belarus, neighbouring nations objected – and Poland rushed to station troops on the border.
Wagner fighters have a reputation for brutality, and have even caused concern among UK MPs over the national security threat they post to Britain.
Morawiecki also warned that the number of Wagner mercenaries gathered in the neighbouring country of Belarus could exceed 4,000.
He then touched on the possibility of closing the border to Belarus too, but noted that this would be a joint decision for Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Following their meeting, Nauseda wrote on social media: “We stay vigilant and prepared for any possible scenario.”
Morawiecki also thanked his neighbouring nation for the military cooperation and “the joint promise that we will defend every piece of land of Nato countries”.
He added: “Today the borders of Poland and Lithuania are the borders of the free world that stops the pressure from the despotism from the east.”
This is not the first time the Polish leader has voiced his concerns over the mercenaries.
He has previously suggested that the Wagner mercenaries could “try to infiltrate Poland pretending to be illegal immigrants” and could stage a “hybrid attack”.
On Tuesday, Poland accused two Belarusian helicopters of breaching its airspace, although Minsk denied it.
Poland summoned the Belarus ambassador over the incident, calling it another “element in escalating the tension” at the border between their countries.
But, Belarus ministry of defence said it was “far-fetched” claim and a cover for building up forces on the border.
Lukashenko and Russian president Vladimir Putin have enjoyed taunting eastern Europe recently. Only this week, Lukashenko told Poland it should thank him keeping Wagner soldiers in check.
It comes after he joked in July that fighters were keen to move into Poland to “go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow”, a reference to the Polish capital and a Polish city near the Ukrainian border.