Poland and Baltic States Agree on Conditions for Closing Border with Belarus

Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have agreed to close the border with Belarus in case of a "critical incident".

As Polsat News reports, Mariusz Kaminski, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, following a meeting with his colleagues from the Baltic States, said the authorities of the four countries expect possible incidents, including the armed ones, due to the presence of mercenaries of the Wagner Group in Belarus.

"If a critical incident occurs, regardless of which border it will be on, we will apply immediate measures in response. All border crossings that are currently open – both passenger and cargo – will be closed," Kaminsky emphasised.

He noted that the death of the leaders of the Wagner group, Yevgenii Prigozhin and Dmitrii Utkin, "does not change the actual situation in Belarus."

The minister emphasised that the "Wagner Group must leave the region where we live" because "international security requires it."

Kaminski added that at the moment, it is not clear who is responsible for the activities of the Wagnerites.

Poland and the Baltic states are worried about the situation on the border after hundreds of mercenaries of the Wagner PMC arrived in the country last month at the invitation of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. In addition, attempts to cross the border by illegal migrants with the assistance of Belarusian security forces intensified.

Earlier, Lithuania announced the temporary closure of two out of six border crossing points with Belarus from 18 August. The country is also considering the possibility of closing the remaining crossing points on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.