Poland and the Baltic states have been increasingly worried over border security since hundreds of Russian Wagner Group fighters arrived in Belarus earlier this summer at the invitation of strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, news agencies reported.
NATO and EU members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have also accused the authorities in Minsk of using migrants from the Middle East and Africa to destabilise Central and Eastern Europe, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
"We demand from the authorities in Minsk that the Wagner Group immediately leave the territory of Belarus and that illegal migrants immediately leave the border area and are sent back to their home countries," Kamiński told a joint news conference with his Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian counterparts in Warsaw on Monday.
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
"If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately," he added.
"All border crossings that remain open will be closed," he warned.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė told the media that there were two criteria that could lead to a border closure, the Reuters news agency reported.
"First of all, an armed incident at the border of one of the countries," she said, as quoted as Reuters, adding that "the incident would need to pose a serious threat to national security."
Bilotaite told reporters that "the other criterion is a mass breakthrough of migrants through the border of one of the states."
The Polish and Lithuanian interior ministers earlier this month discussed plans for a possible closure of all border crossings with Belarus in response to "emerging threats" from that country and potential "future provocations at the border," according to a statement at the time.
Poland's Kamiński and Lithuania's Bilotaitė spoke on the phone on August 4 to discuss "the current situation on the border with Belarus" and a "mechanism of cooperation between Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic states," the statement said.
The Polish government in early August decided to move additional troops and combat helicopters to the Belarusian border, following an incident in which two Belarusian helicopters breached Polish airspace during an air exercise in the area, according to officials.
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said at the time that Poland was prepared and ready to ensure the security of NATO's eastern flank in response to the deployment of Russian mercenary troops in Belarus.
On August 3, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda met in the northeastern Polish city of Suwałki, near Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad region, to discuss border security amid Russia's war in Ukraine and the deployment of Russian mercenary troops in Belarus.
The Polish prime minister told reporters during the meeting that Russia and Belarus were "stepping up their numerous provocations in order to destabilise the border of NATO's eastern flank."
The Polish prime minister said at the end of last month that Poland was guarding its border with Belarus "with full determination" against a threat from Wagner Group mercenaries stationed there.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 551 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters