Polish border guards will be able to use weapons against border violators

The Polish parliament has passed a law that will allow law enforcement agencies to use military weapons to deter illegal migrants. The Polish publication TVN24 reported on this. The Polish Sejm voted in favor of amendments to the Law on the Activities of the Army and Services, which expands the powers and removes liability for the use of firearms and coercive means in case of encroachment on the inviolability of the state border.

According to the new law, representatives of the army, police, and border guard service may use weapons to repel a direct attack on the life, health, or freedom of themselves or another person and take actions aimed at doing so. The Polish government claims that the amendments to the law are necessary to ensure the security of the country and its eastern borders from the growing number of illegal migrants. It is also noted that the armed forces will use combat weapons only in exceptional cases when other deterrence methods fail.

Prerequisites

The expansion of the powers of law enforcement agencies was the Polish government's response to the deteriorating situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, which has long been "stormed" by migrants brought from the Middle East.

One of the peaks of aggravation was the incident on May 28, when migrants trying to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally stabbed a border guard and a Polish soldier near the border guard post in Dubicze Cerkiewne. It is noted that the incident occurred during an attack by a group of about 50 foreigners who threw branches and stones at the Polish patrol. While trying to cross the border by force, one of them injured a Polish soldier.

The victim was then provided first aid. At this time, the migrants continued to behave aggressively, attacking the injured soldier and the border guard who was assisting him. It is reported that a few days after that, the stabbed officer died in a military hospital in Warsaw.

A Polish soldier was wounded on the border with Belarus.

May 28, 2024. Frame from the video of the Polish Border Guard

Also, in late March and early April, three Polish border guards were detained by military police for abuse of power: the officers involved in border protection began shooting into the ground because a group of migrants on the Belarusian border was trying to cross the border and did not respond to warning shots. As a result, no one was injured in the incident.

At the time, President Andrzej Duda commented on the incident, saying that he found the detention of his country's soldiers "outrageous and requires explanation."