Belarusian soldiers threaten to shoot at Polish border guards
The Polish Defense Ministry reported about the worsening situation on the Belarusian border due to a large influx of illegal immigrants.
According to the Polish Defense Ministry, Belarusian soldiers threatened Polish border guards with weapons while trying to move a large group of illegal immigrants across the border.
The incident occurred on November 3. Polish border guards found a huge group of about 250 illegal migrants trying to cross the border. They were accompanied by Belarusian security forces.
"The Belarusian soldiers guarding them, threatened to open fire at our soldiers," said the Polish Defense Ministry on Twitter.
The Polish Defense Ministry noted that the escalation was avoided thanks to the patience of Polish border guards.
"The actions of Belarusian soldiers looked like an attempt to escalate the situation, but also an attempt to conceal the fact that a group of migrants had entered the territory of Republic of Poland," the Polish Defense Ministry said.
Minsk categorically denies its role in the transfer of migrants to Poland.
"Belarus has never provoked and does not intend to provoke incidents on the border. Artificial escapades are organized with the aim of creating a hostile public image of Belarus," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.
The migrant crisis on the border of the EU countries and Belarus began after the European Union introduced sanctions against Minsk because of the forced landing of the Ryanair plane with the former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta Roman Protasevich on board. Lukashenko then said that Belarus will no longer help Western countries control illegal migration at its borders.
The Polish authorities accused the Belarusian side of creating the migration crisis. Poland and Lithuania imposed a state of emergency due to the growing flow of refugees. The Lithuanian authorities decided to start building a wall on the border with Belarus. Latvia also announced the strengthening of border controls.
In October, Lukashenko, responding to a question from CNN whether he was using migrants as revenge for the EU sanctions, said that "only weak people can take revenge": "Sorry for immodesty, I do not consider myself a weakling. And I do not consider it necessary to take revenge on the European Union."
Since August, Lithuania has begun the deportation of illegal migrants.