The Polish government has accused Belarus and Russia of orchestrating another influx of migrants into the European Union at the Polish border to destabilize the entire region.

Maciej Wasik, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, told journalists on Monday that this amounted to "an operation organised by the Russian and Belarusian secret services, which is becoming more and more intense."

According to Polish authorities, at least 19,000 people have tried to cross the border into Poland so far this year -- compared to 16,000 attempts in the same period in 2022. Polish border services recorded about 3,900 attempts to cross the border last month alone.

Request for back-up

Polish border guards have meanwhile asked the government in Warsaw to send another 1,000 soldiers to the border with Belarus. This comes after the Polish defense ministry had already sent over 1,000 soldiers to the border in recent weeks.

In the summer of 2021, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees, mainly from the Middle East, tried to cross the border into Poland from Belarus.

The West at that time blamed the Belarusian regime for orchestrating the influx in collaboration with Russia in what they called a "hybrid" attack on the EU.

Belarus denies these accusations.

Wagner group in Belarus

In July, the head of the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that he had begun to train Belarusian armed forces to make them the "second-best army in the world."

Poland has expressed concerns about the presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia.