Poland announces new military operation along Belarusian border

An operation called "Safe Podlasie" (Bezpieczne Podlasie) will commence at the border with Belarus in Poland on 1 August, involving approximately 17,000 military personnel (Podlasie, Poland's eastern region, shares a border with Belarus - ed.). Source: RMF24, citing Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, as reported by European Pravda During a press conference with the Polish Minister of Interior, Tomasz Siemoniak, Kosiniak-Kamysz assessed that the decision to establish a buffer zone on the border with Belarus has had a positive effect - the number of attempts to cross the border and actual crossings has decreased.

The 18th Mechanised Division of Polish Armed Forces will be responsible for the operation. 

The Defence Minister added that police officers, including those who participated in UN missions in Kosovo, were deployed to train soldiers at the border. Kosiniak-Kamysz also stated that anyone who harms Polish soldiers or officers defending the Polish border will be held accountable. 

In turn, Siemoniak pointed out that the number of attempts at illegal border crossings has halved. Quote: "This is a very concrete result, linked to the fact that we have pushed smugglers away from the border itself," noted the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Siemoniak mentioned that joint efforts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are underway to ensure that citizens of countries where illegal migrants originate from understand that their planned crossing of the Polish-Belarusian border is a crime. "We are also consistently exerting political pressure on Belarus to abandon this procedure," he added. The minister noted that Poland is also demanding cooperation from Belarus in the investigation to find the killer of a Polish soldier who died after being wounded at the border.

Background:

• Poland significantly increased the number of military personnel on the border with Belarus due to attempts by Lukashenko's regime to exert pressure on the country using migrants.
• Earlier, it was reported that Poland hopes to involve border guards and police officers from Finland, Germany, and Greece in patrolling the border with Belarus.

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