Poland accuses Belarus of staging armed cross-border intrusion

Warsaw said on Wednesday it had summoned the Belarusian charge d’affaires to protest gun-toting people in uniform crossing into Polish territory

Poland has imposed a state of emergency at the border following a surge in migrants trying to enter the country, and accused Belarus of ‘deliberate escalation’

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An army vehicle patrols next to a fence built by Polish soldiers on the border with Belarus. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:20pm, 3 Nov 2021Updated: 8:34pm, 3 Nov 2021

Poland accused Belarus of staging an armed cross-border intrusion and said on Wednesday it had summoned the Belarusian charge d’affaires to protest what it sees as a deliberate escalation of the migrant crisis at the frontier.

Warsaw has imposed a state of emergency at the border following a surge in migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to enter Poland, a European Union member, via Belarus.

Poland’s foreign ministry said unidentified uniformed individuals armed with long guns had crossed into Polish territory from Belarus on Monday night.

Polish security forces block migrants from crossing the country’s border with Belarus in September. Photo: AP

Polish soldiers noticed three uniformed people with long weapons, said Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for Poland’s security services. “After meeting a Polish patrol, they reloaded their weapons and then departed towards Belarus,” he said.

Zaryn said the incident occurred about 300 metres into Poland from the border with Belarus. “It was enough to assume that it was not a mistake,” he said.

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