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Refugee crisis in Europe

Minsk rejects Warsaw's accusations of Belarusian service members crossing Polish border

The Belarusian Defense Ministry added that the deployment of 10,000 Polish troops on the border with Belarus, announced by Poland's Ministry of National Defense on October 25, "is a substantial military activity"

MINSK, November 9. /TASS/. Minsk believes that Warsaw's accusations of Belarusian service members crossing Poland's border are unfounded, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to Minsk, Polish Defense Ministry officials met with military attaches from the Belarusian embassy in Warsaw on November 8 "to discuss alleged violations of the Polish border by Belarusian service members and their involvement in the migration crisis." "No evidence received through voice and data recorders was presented," the statement adds.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry pointed out that Minsk slammed "all accusations brought forward by Poland as baseless and unfounded" and believed that "Poland's Ministry of National Defense is reluctant to search for a constructive solution to the issue and deliberately seeks to take the current conflict situation to a political level."

The Belarusian Defense Ministry added that the deployment of 10,000 Polish troops on the border with Belarus, announced by Poland's Ministry of National Defense on October 25, "is a substantial military activity." "Conducting this sort of move without notifying Belarus violates additional bilateral agreements on regional confidence-building measures and security. Under these agreements, notifications should be sent and observers should be invited to monitor military activities involving over 6,000 troops," the statement reads, adding: "Minsk has so far received neither a notification from Poland nor an invitation to send observers."

According to the statement, Belarus suggested that the two countries hold a bilateral meeting to confirm their good intentions and discuss current concerns but received no response. "The Belarusian Defense Ministry has been committed to the principles of good-neighborliness and the importance of maintaining bilateral dialogue for resolving any conflicts and disputes," the statement said.

Since the beginning of 2021, over 30,000 migrants have tried to cross the Belarusian-Polish border. Poland declared a state of emergency in regions bordering Belarus. Warsaw has been beefing up the number of troops engaged in border protection, taking the headcount to 12,000. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern on the matter.

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