Wary of Wagner's presence in Belarus, Poland doubles the size of its army

Warsaw is planning to double the size of its army after members of the Wagner private military group moved to neighbouring Belarus.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced that the country plans to double the size of its army from three to six divisions to counter Wagner's deployment in Belarus.

Mr Blaszczak's statement was also supported by Polish Deputy Prime Minister Yaroslav Kaczynski.

Accordingly, the head of the Polish army said he had signed a document increasing the number of active military personnel from 172,000 to 300,000, noting that the government is “consistently implementing this goal.” Mr. Blaszczak added that Warsaw also plans to increase defense spending to 4% of GDP.

*Polish troops install barbed wire fences on Poland's border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. (Photo: Getty)*

In addition to the new divisions, Deputy Prime Minister Kaczynski said a reserve division might be formed, but did not specify a specific time.

He also revealed that the government is working to restore military units that were disbanded under former Polish President Donald Tusk.

Warsaw is working to strengthen its border with Belarus by building a fence and deploying various types of electronic equipment to “facilitate the protection of the border and prevent an attack prepared by Minsk with the support of Moscow,” Mr Kaczynski said.

Poland's decision to beef up its military comes after Warsaw announced it would redeploy troops to its eastern border to counter the presence of the Wagner private military group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in neighboring Belarus.

After a late June mutiny in Moscow led by leader Wagner Prigozhin, the group moved to Belarus as part of a deal with the Kremlin brokered by Belarusian President Lukashenko.

Wagner's presence in Belarus has become a major concern for Warsaw. Since arriving in Belarus, Wagner members have begun training Belarusian forces and sharing their battlefield experience from the Ukrainian conflict.

They are also deployed near the border with Poland and are conducting joint exercises with the Belarusian army.

Earlier on July 23, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Wagner forces were trying to move west, towards Warsaw and Rzeszow - a Polish city less than 100 km from the border with Ukraine.

In addition, the Belarusian president also accused Poland of seeking to annex Ukraine, noting that “the division of the western part of Ukraine and its transfer to Poland is unacceptable.” According to Mr. Lukashenko, Ukraine is “actively involving mercenaries” in the conflict and “starting to involve Poland.”

For his part, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on July 24 that the country will establish a special unit, located in the city of Augustow in the Suwalski corridor, located between Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad region.

The US also officially announced that Washington would play a role in defending Polish territory in case of foreign attack.

Source: https://vtc.vn/de-chung-su-hien-dien-cua-wagner-o-belarus-ba-lan-tang-gap-doi-quy-mo-quan-doi-ar809231.html

Source link