Poland to Deploy New Brigade to Belarus Border Amid Surge in Illegal African Migrants

The newly created 16th Mechanised Brigade of the Polish Army, deployed in the east of the country, will start defending the border with Belarus on 1 August this year as part of Operation Safe Podlasie.

This was announced by Vice Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz during a visit to the brigade's location in Zaluski, Warmia and Mazury Voivodeship in the north-east of the country, Ukrinform reports.  

‘From 1 August, the 16th Division will be responsible for the protection of the Polish-Belarusian border as part of Operation Safe Podlasie. It will assume command of the operation,’ Kosiniak-Kamysz said during a meeting with the military of the newly created brigade, which is part of this division.  

The Minister inspected the location of the military unit, stressing that it will be equipped with modern equipment, including South Korean K2 tanks, Rosomak armoured personnel carriers and Poprad self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems.  

The decision to create the 16th Mechanised Brigade as part of the 16th Mechanised Division was made last spring. In less than a year, more than 600 servicemen have been recruited into the brigade.  

Operation Secure Podlasie to protect the border with Belarus was launched in August last year.  

In 2022, Poland built a 5.5-metre-high, 186-km-long fence on the border with Belarus and set up a modern electronic monitoring system. This was a response to the artificial creation of the so-called migration pressure on Belarus' border with Poland and the Baltic states by Belarus and Russia since the summer of 2021.

According to The Gaze, in autumn, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the start of construction of the Eastern Shield fortification system on the borders with Russia and Belarus.

Poland plans to strengthen its northern and eastern borders by creating defence lines, surveillance, reconnaissance and unmanned defence systems, spending about $2.6 billion by the end of 2028.