Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia say they will completely seal off their borders with Belarus if a "critical incident" involving Wagner mercenaries occurs, as tensions rise over the stability of the private militia following the death of its top leadership, including founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Speaking at a meeting of interior ministers in Warsaw on August 28, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said the group of nations bordering Belarus, including EU members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, were demanding the immediate removal of Wagner troops from Belarus and the repatriation of illegal migrants in the area, to lessen the chance of a "critical incident."
"If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately. All border crossings that have been opened so far will be closed," he said.
After a brief mutiny in late June, thousands of Wagner forces moved to Belarus as part of a deal to leave Ukraine, where they had been fighting beside Russian forces. That raised fears of the militia's intentions on the eastern frontiers of NATO and the EU, which were compounded last week by the death of Prigozhin -- and other top Wagner officials -- in a plane crash north of Moscow.
Lithuania said last week it was closing two border crossings in response to escalating tensions with Belarus, which has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground for Moscow’s invasion.
Agne Bilotaite, the Baltic nation's interior minister, said during the meeting in Warsaw that Vilnius plans to close two more border points -- Lavarishki (Katlovka on the Belarusian side) and Raigardas (Privalka) -- which would only leave the Salechniki (from the Belarusian side Benyakoni) and Medniki (Kamenny Log) crossings open.
The Baltic News Service (BNS) quoted Bilotaite as saying the new closures should be decided on in the "near future" and are needed to concentrate officers at border points.
Poland closed all but one of its crossings with Belarus earlier this year in response to the expulsion of several Polish diplomats from Minsk, as well as the sentencing of journalist Andrzej Poczobut by a Belarusian court to eight years in prison on charges of encouraging actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus, trying to rehabilitate Nazism, and inciting ethnic hostility.
Warsaw says the charges are unjust and politically motivated.
