In the two months since Poland’s government announced a new campaign to clamp down on illegal movement across the country’s eastern border, migrants attempting the crossing have become increasingly violent.
Footage shared on social media on Wednesday showed illegal migrants launching petrol bombs at Polish soldiers guarding the border with Belarus.
Polish deputy PM and defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also pointed to “escalating” aggression, saying that “soldiers are being attacked not only with stones but also with bottles filled with flammable liquid.” He described every such attack as “an attack on the Polish state.”
This is being combated with new powers for soldiers, who Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed, “must not be afraid to respond decisively when defending Poland.”
Therefore, we have changed the law—soldiers now have clear rules for the use of weapons and full legal protection.
In other words, troops will not be liable for acts committed under certain circumstances—for example, in order to repel a direct threat on their life, or that of another soldier.
These protective regulations were created after a soldier was stabbed and killed while protecting the border with Belarus last June.
Former deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta is, however, doubtful about the government’s new pledges of support, warning that “no soldier defending the border during your rule can be certain that, in the event of defending the border and themselves, our state will stand behind them and not the aggressor.”
Officials also temporarily reintroduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania earlier this month, not long after Warsaw began accusing Berlin of sending ‘irregular migrants’ arriving from Poland back across the border. It has also described joint patrols as off the table.
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