“When someone puts a knife on the tip of a spear and strikes through the fence, across the state border, at a Polish soldier, they are not refugees, but ordinary criminals,” Sikorski declared during a meeting with voters ahead of Sunday’s EP elections.
He further noted that an investigation is ongoing and urged Belarus to cooperate fully. “We demand that the Belarusian authorities identify the murderer and hand him over to the Polish authorities as part of the investigation already conducted by our Ministry of Justice,” he stated.
In response to the incident, a formal protest note was delivered to the Belarusian chargé d'affaires at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later on Thursday.
A soldier of Poland’s 1st Armoured Brigade was stabbed by migrants trying to cross a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border at the end of last month. The military said the serviceman, named only as Mateusz, died in hospital on Thursday.
Tensions rise as Polish soldiers detained for firing warning shots
The nation was further unsettled by recent news of two Polish soldiers being detained by military police for firing warning shots at a group of migrants attempting to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally earlier this year.
The government's response includes an investigation into the detentions, with President Andrzej Duda calling for a National Security Council meeting. The opposition has demanded the resignation of the defense minister, the minister of justice, and even the prime minister.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that "the possibility of using weapons in an emergency situation must be something taken for granted for a Polish soldier and officer." He also announced the resignation of military prosecutor Tomasz Janeczka.
Meanwhile, the National Prosecutor's Office said in a communiqué that "it is clear from the evidence presented, and in particular from the CCTV footage provided by the border guards, that the soldiers exceeded their authority during the intervention carried out against migrants attempting to illegally cross the Polish border."
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz voiced his disapproval of the detentions, deeming them unacceptable. He reported that he was informed of the incident by the Military Police commander and clarified that the decision to detain the soldiers was made independently, without notifying him or other senior officials.
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Source: IAR, PAP
