Warsaw, 8 August 2023 (dpa/MIA) - In a bid to beef up border protection, Poland is moving more soldiers to its frontier with neighbouring Belarus.

Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak approved a request from the Polish border guard, the ministry told the Polish news agency PAP on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Defence did not say how many soldiers are to be seconded to reinforce the border.

The border guard had asked for 1,000 more men and women on Monday.

Poland, which is a member of the European Union and the western NATO military alliance, shares a 418-kilometre-long border with Belarus.

Like Lithuania, Poland is concerned about the activities of Russian Wagner mercenaries in Belarus.

Poland has also accused its neighbour of organizing refugee crossings into Polish territory.

According to the Polish Border Patrol, 160 migrants tried to cross from Belarus into Poland on Saturday and 147 tried on Sunday.

The European Union has in the past charged that Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko has deliberately moved migrants from crisis regions to the EU's external border in order to put pressure on the West.

Some 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers are already deployed on Poland's eastern border with Belarus, which is also the external border of the EU and NATO. They are also to receive assistance from 500 police officers.

Photo: MIA archive