WARSAW, Poland — Polish and Lithuanian leaders held an pressing assembly Thursday in a strategically delicate space the place their NATO nations border Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, warning that they’re bracing for provocations from Moscow and Minsk within the space.
The assembly got here two days after two Belarusian helicopters flew briefly at low altitude into Polish air area, in what was considered as a provocative transfer. Both nations on NATO‘s jap flank have elevated their border safety following the arrival of hundreds of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries simply throughout their borders in Belarus after an aborted mutiny in Russia in June.
“Russia and Belarus are increasing the pressure on the borders, increasing the number of their provocations, and we must be aware that the number of these provocations will grow,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki mentioned at a information convention with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry denied that its nation’s helicopters entered Poland. Anatoly Glaz, press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, mentioned Thursday that the the cost d’affaires of Poland was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk and informed that Poland had come to a hasty conclusion.
“We call on the Polish side not to escalate the situation and not use it to militarize the border area,” Glaz mentioned.
Local Polish residents on Tuesday posted pictures on social media of helicopters with Belarusian insignia flying above.
Morawiecki and Nauseda met in Suwalki, a city within the Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated stretch of land operating 96 kilometers (60 miles) alongside the Polish-Lithuanian border. Also generally known as the Suwalki Corridor, the stretch of territory hyperlinks the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the remainder of the NATO alliance. It separates Belarus, an ally of Russia, from Kaliningrad, a closely militarized exclave of Russia situated on the Baltic Sea which is separated from the Russian mainland.
Military analysts within the West have lengthy considered the Suwalki Gap as a possible flashpoint space in case of a standoff between Russia and NATO. They fear that if Russia have been to ever seize the Suwalki Gap, it could depart Lithuania and the opposite two Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, minimize off from Poland and different NATO allies.
Nauseda mentioned he believes the Suwalki Gap stays a weak place, despite the fact that Sweden – situated throughout the Baltic Sea – is on observe to affix NATO.
“Some people say the agreement reached at the NATO summit on Sweden’s future membership is changing the geopolitical situation, and the strategic importance of the Suwalki Corridor is diminishing. I certainly do not agree with this view and I believe that the Suwalki Corridor remains a potential target of provocation by both Russia and Belarus,” Nauseda mentioned.
The NATO international locations on the jap flank have felt underneath stress for a few years.
Large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and Africa started arriving two years in the past on the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. European leaders have accused Belarus chief Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, of opening the migration route in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed toward creating instability within the West.
“Our borders have stopped various hybrid attacks for years. Russia and Belarus are increasing their numerous provocations and intrigues in order to destabilize the border of NATO’s eastern flank,” Morawiecki mentioned.
“Today, the Polish borders and the border of Lithuania are the borders of the free world, which are stopping the pressure from the despotism from the east,” Morawiecki mentioned.
An unbiased analyst, Valery Karbalevich informed The Associated Press that he expects Belarus to proceed to check NATO on the Kremlin’s behalf.
“Provocations on the border with NATO will intensify, as the Kremlin is trying to learn the limits of patience of Western politicians through Lukashenko’s hands,” Karbalevich informed The Associated Press.
“Minsk will deny everything, because Lukashenko shamelessly denied his involvement even when thousands of Syrian migrants attacked the EU border two years ago with the help of Belarusian border guards,” Karbalevich mentioned.
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