Border provocations staged by Belarusians
27.09.2021
The actions taken by Belarus on the border with Poland points to an active involvement of the officers of Belarusian state security bodies in staging provocations and orchestrating incidents targeted against the Polish soldiers and border guards. These efforts are a part of psychological warfare whose aim is to unseal the border and intimidate the Poles. However, at the same time they give rise to real security threats.
During today’s press conference, the Minister of Interior and Administration, Special Services Coordinator Mariusz Kamiński, the Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak and the Commander of the Polish Border Guard, Major General Tomasz Praga have jointly presented the current situation on the Polish border with Belarus.
In recent weeks it has become a common occurrence for the Belarusians to point their guns or rifles at the sky and fire shots once they spot a patrol unit of Polish border guards and soldiers. The Polish officers are also often blinded by the light of electric torches, yelled at and called names, and accused of using “Gestapo-like methods.”
The Belarusian units also simulate throwing grenades across the border or fire the so called “empty shots” at the Poles. They also leave suspicious packages in front of the Polish border guards and immediately rush off, which aims to suggest that what they have left poses an imminent threat.
The evidence is growing of more and more active involvement of the Belarusian officers in destroying the border barriers that are being put up by the Polish troops. The soldiers who erect these border protections are often subjected to aggression – different objects or even fire crackers are thrown at them.
The activities taken by the Belarusians have all the hallmarks of attempts to provoke a severe border incident involving the Polish soldiers and border guards.
What makes this tense situation worse is the fact the Belarusians offer some pills and drugs to migrants suggesting that these substances will help them endure during their efforts to illegally cross the Polish border. The Lithuanian border guards have identified a case where a child was given methadone by the parents who had obtained the drug from Belarusians. Taking such substances may affect the behaviour of the migrants and produce unpredictable outcomes.