Poland, Latvia, Lithuania may close borders with Belarus if “critical incident” occurs

Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania will completely close their borders with Belarus if a "critical incident" occurs, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said on Aug. 28.

Such measures will be taken regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, Kamiński said; however, he did not state what exactly would be defined as a "critical incident."

Read also: Nervous Poland will send more troops to the border with Belarus

"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 be sent back to their home countries," Kamiński said.

“If there is a critical incident, [...] we will retaliate immediately. All border crossings that have been opened so far will be closed.”

Wagner Group in Belarus: What is known

On June 24, the Wagner PMC, led by their owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, ended their one-day mutiny after negotiations with self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin then gave the Wagner Group three options, including exile to Belarus.

Read also: ‘They stress me out’ – Lukashenko complains to Putin about Wagner’s wishes to march on Warsaw

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that the republic could deploy about 8,000 Russian mercenaries on its territory. The Armed Forces of Ukraine did not rule out the possibility that Wagner units could be used in the border areas of Poland and Lithuania to complicate the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

On Aug. 23, a plane crashed in Russia’s Tver Oblast, carrying allegedly Prigozhin and his "right-hand man" Dmitry Utkin. Four days later, they were finally pronounced dead.

At the same time, Lithuania and Poland believe that this fact has changed little. Polish Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wąsik said that there may be about 3,500-5,000 Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, and reports that they allegedly want to leave the country "are not true."

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine