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Polish military attache summoned to Belarusian Defense Ministry

It is reported that over 12,000 military servicemen had been deployed near Poland’s border with Belarus by Monday evening

MINSK, November 9./TASS/. The Belarusian Defense Ministry summoned Poland’s military attache in Minsk to state that Warsaw’s accusations hurled out at Minsk over the alleged role of the Belarusian military in the migration crisis on the border were baseless.

Colonel Jaroslaw Kembrowski was summoned to the Defense Ministry on November 9, it said. "The Polish military representative was told that accusations of the Polish side as to the involvement of Belarusian military in the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border were baseless and illegal," the ministry said in a report circulated on Tuesday.

"The Belarusian side noted that in order to raise such serious claims strong evidence is needed, without which the accusations are regarded as a provocation against the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus," the ministry said.

"The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus states that the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Poland is currently not ready for a constructive dialogue on controversial issues or it does not want a dialogue. Nevertheless, the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus is still awaiting initiative proposals from the Polish side," the ministry stressed.

It reiterated that according to official information of the Polish authorities, over 12,000 military servicemen had been deployed near Poland’s border with Belarus by Monday evening. "Up until now, Minsk has not received from the Polish side either a notification or an invitation for observers. Moreover, there was not even an intention regarding readiness to discuss the existing concerns," it noted.

The migration crisis on the border of Belarus with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland deteriorated dramatically on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from the Belarusian side and are not leaving the border zone. Some of them have tried to cross into Poland by cutting razor wire fences. The European Union accuses Minsk of intentionally escalating the crisis and urges sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko blamed the situation on Western countries themselves, since their action had prompted people to flee the war.