Poland’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Belarusian Embassy over the violation of Polish airspace by two Belarusian helicopters on 1 August as tension mounts over the presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus.
Polish broadcasters reported flights of helicopters over the Białowieża forest area near the Polish-Belarusian border. The military at first said flights did not cross the border but later acknowledged that at least two Belarusian helicopters had entered Polish airspace.
“Due to the violation of the airspace of the Republic of Poland by two Belarusian helicopters on August 1, 2023, the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Belarus was urgently summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland,” the ministry stated.
Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak has ordered an increased military presence at the border. Helicopters will patrol the area and NATO has been informed, the defence ministry said.
The Polish side said the incident “is perceived as another element of the escalation of tension on the Polish-Belarusian border. Poland expects Belarus to refrain from this type of activity.”
Tensions between Poland and Belarus are on the rise. The two countries have clashed over Poland’s support for the Belarusian opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko. In retaliation, Lukashenko adopted a policy of facilitating border crossings by illegal migrants into Poland, leading in turn to the installation of border fortifications.
Relations deteriorated over the war, with Lukashenko backing Putin while Poland has become the hub for military and humanitarian support for Ukraine. The arrival of Wagner group mercenaries in Belarus has further destabilised the situation.
Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki on 29 July warned that some Wagner Group mercenaries have moved towards the Suwałki gap. Poland fears they could be used to attack this sensitive stretch of land in Poland and Lithuania separating the exclave of Russia’s Kaliningrad from Belarus.
Morawiecki also told reporters that Poland feared the Wagner mercenaries who have recently relocated to Belarus would be used in hybrid attacks of facilitating illegal migrant crossings of the Polish border. He said that the mercenaries could be “disguised as Belarusian border guards who will help illegal migrants get across the border” or that they could “try to infiltrate Poland and the EU, pretending to be illegal migrants.”
The moving of some of the mercenaries towards the border contradicts assurances given by Belarusian President Lukashenko that the Wagner Group would stay in central Belarus. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have stated that if there were incidents involving the Wagner Group they would be prepared to shut their borders.
