A migrant attempting to illegally cross the border from Belarus into Poland has been accused of wounding a Polish soldier.
Following the incident on May 28, Polish prosecutors said they plan to charge the alleged assailant with attempted murder.
The soldier was injured in a knife attack during a border patrol. The serviceman and colleagues came across a group of about 50 illegal migrants. In an altercation that followed, a number of other officials sustained minor injuries.
According to Poland’s interior ministry, the attack took place in the early morning hours of May 28 when the migrant allegedly stabbed the soldier in the chest by reaching through a gap in the steel barrier on the border.
Immediate medical assistance was provided and the soldier was taken to hospital where he is described as being in stable condition. In the aftermath of the incident, the illegal migrants are said to have continued to attack the border patrol with missiles and tree branches.
The Polish military prosecution service announced it had webcam footage from that part of the border and was investigating.
In separate incidents on the Belarusian border, a guard was hospitalised after being attacked with a broken bottle and suffering facial injuries. In another incident, a guard was stabbed in the arm.
The Polish border is under constant pressure from migrants originating from Africa and the Middle East trying to enter the European Union. The situation is believed to be co-ordinated by Russian and Belarusian services that aim to destabilise Poland’s Eastern border.
Deputy interior minister Czesław Mroczek told reporters the latest stabbing came amid a rise in aggressive behaviour and attacks on security forces at the border.
“Migration pressure is increasing and large groups, supported by Belarusian services, are attempting to breach the border.”
Former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said “the [latest] incident proves how important the construction of the border wall was” and pointed out that current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party had been against that when in opposition.
Łukasz Warzecha, a comment writer with the weekly magazine Do Rzeczy, told Brussels Signal:“Questions need to be asked of the ministry of defence: why are soldiers or border guards who are subject to such attacks are not authorised to use firearms in self-defence?”
He said he believed the current situation on the Belarusian border “demands that the level of reaction to these attacks becomes more severe”.
Warzecha acknowledged that any reaction would take into account that Belarus was now regarded as an “enemy state” and said he felt that “there is a need to demonstrate firmness” and that the use of firearms in self-defence was a logical step to take.
Since the start of this year, the Podlaski Border Guard unit has recorded more 15,000 attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus into Poland, with 6,800 attempts in May alone.
The Polish-Belarusian border is secured by a 5.5-metre steel barrier and an extensive electronic surveillance system.
On May 27, Poland’s defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced details of a €2.5 billion plan titled “Eastern Shield”, designed to further fortify the country’s Eastern borders and which may include minefields.
