The conflict between Poland and Belarus is not over yet. The Czech Republic responds to the Polish demand for military aid at the border. Therefore, about 150 Czech soldiers will help the country next to them to cope with the influx of immigrants from Belarus.
Monitoring help
Poland continues to confront migrants trying to cross the border into Belarus. The number has already fallen sharply. On Tuesday, the Polish border guards were quoted by the news agency as saying Reuters 51 attempted crossings by migrants. This is a big difference compared to the five hundred or so attempts that the border troops had to deal with in mid-November.
However, relations between Poland and Belarus are still very tense. Poland sticks to its position and continues to accuse Belarus of the Belarusian army for helping the migrants cross. In order to better monitor the migrants, Poland requested the help of the Czech army.
“Poland has requested additional engineers because they need more help to build and repair the border barriers,” Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar said. “There is also a demand for Czech soldiers who can monitor the border with Belarus day and night.” Therefore, Czech soldiers often operate drones that monitor the borders, rather than direct contact with migrants.
Visegrádgroep
The Czech Republic is the third country, after Lithuania and the United Kingdom, to come to the aid of Poland to manage the situation at the border. Not surprisingly, the Czech Republic and Poland have joined forces to tackle this problem. Both countries are part of the so-called Visegrád group, along with Hungary and Slovakia.
This group has been working together for some time on political and economic issues. Since the refugee crisis in 2015, they have jointly pursued a strict immigration policy, and are vehemently opposed to European redistribution plans for immigrants. Given the historical cooperation between the two countries and the common political agenda, it is therefore clear that the Czech Republic will respond to Poland’s request.
(ns)
