Mercenaries from the Russian-backed Wagner Group could infiltrate the European Union by posing as migrants, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has warned.
At a press conference, he expressed concern regarding reports that 100 former Wagner fighters had moved into the Belarusian town of Grodno, near the Polish border.
Morawiecki is anticipating that the move could be in preparation for another so-called “hybrid attack” against Poland and the European Union, which would involve Wagner troops pushing large numbers of foreign migrants into Europe
“Presumably they will also try to infiltrate Poland pretending to be illegal immigrants, and this creates additional risks,” he added.
Belarusian authorities have made a habit of enabling large numbers of African and Middle-Eastern migrants to enter the EU through Poland in what is regarded as an effort to destabilise the bloc.
President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko even mocked European authorities in 2021 after he ignited the first migration crisis on the union’s Polish border.
“We’re Slavs. We have hearts. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany,” the dictator said in an interview during the crisis, before adding that Belarus would not stop the migrants from trying to enter Europe.
He admitted his troops were probably helping migrants illegally enter the EU, although said he had no intention of investigating the possibility.
“Our guys are helping the migrants get into Polish territory? It’s perfectly possible, I think that’s absolutely possible,” he said. “Maybe someone helped them. I won’t even look into this.”
Morawiecki now fears former Wagner mercenaries will take part in such activities, adding that their presence makes the already tense situation on the Polish border “even more dangerous”.
“Lukashenko and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are trying to push thousands of migrants across the Polish border,” he told state broadcaster TVP.
“[Wagner mercenaries] will probably be disguised as Belarusian border guards and will help illegal immigrants to enter Poland in order to destabilise Poland.”
The moving of some of the mercenaries towards the Polish border appears to contradict assurances given by Lukashenko that Wagner troops would remain in central Belarus.
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have already publicly stated that if there were incidents involving the private military contractor on their frontiers they would be prepared to shut their borders.
