Poland to Conduct Military Operation on Border with Belarus

On August 1, Poland will launch Operation Secure Podlasie on the border with Belarus, involving about 17,000 troops.

This was announced by Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Komisz, as quoted by RMF24.

At a press conference with Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, Kosiniak-Komisz said, among other things, that the decision to introduce a buffer zone on the border with Belarus has had a positive effect - the number of attempts to cross the border and the number of crossings has decreased.

The 18th Mechanised Division will be responsible for the operation.

The head of the Ministry of Defence added that police officers, including those who took part in the mission in Kosovo, were sent to train soldiers at the border.

The minister also assured that anyone who offends Polish army soldiers and officers defending the Polish border in any way will be held accountable.

In his turn, Siemoniak pointed out that the number of attempts to illegally cross the border had been halved.

‘This is a very concrete result due to the fact that we have pushed smugglers away from the border itself,’ the Interior Minister said.

Siemoniak said that, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, measures are being taken to ensure that citizens of the countries from which illegal migrants come are aware that their planned crossing of the Polish-Belarusian border is a crime.

‘We are also constantly putting political pressure on Belarus to abandon this procedure,’ he added.

The minister noted that Poland also demands that Belarus cooperate in the investigation to find the killer of a Polish soldier who died after being wounded at the border.

As The Gaze previously reported, Poland hopes to deploy border guards and police from Finland, Germany and Greece to patrol the border with Belarus amid growing concerns about migration pressure from the east into Europe.