A Belarusian officer was part of a group that assaulted Polish border guards during a recent attempted illegal crossing near the eastern town of Mielnik, Polish authorities reported.
“Thanks to the swift and effective response of border guards and soldiers, no one managed to enter our country. The Polish border is secure. The way is shut,” Jacek Dobrzyński wrote on X.
The confrontation is the latest incident in a years-long border crisis that Poland and other European Union countries say is fueled by Belarus, which has been accused of orchestrating migrant flows from the Middle East and Africa into the EU.Granica niedaleko Mielnika. Kilkadziesiąt osób próbuje pokonać zabezpieczenie usiłując nielegalnie wedrzeć się do Polski. Gdy pojawia się patrol @Straz_Graniczna napastnicy zaczynają rzucać kamieniami w nadjeżdżające auto. W grupie agresorów kamera rejestruje umundurowanego… pic.twitter.com/lXmqnsWKr2
— Jacek Dobrzyński (@JacekDobrzynski) April 13, 2025
“There is no doubt about the close cooperation between Belarusian services and gangs organizing human smuggling,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s interior minister.
“Belarusian officers have even begun to participate directly in provocations and aggressive actions near the border.”11 tysięcy funkcjonariuszy służb MSWiA i żołnierzy Wojska Polskiego jest zaangażowanych w obronę granicy polsko-białoruskiej. 2,6 mld zł zostało wydane na zaporę fizyczną i elektroniczną. Niezbędne narzędzia prawne naszych służb na granicy to strefa buforowa i zawieszenie prawa…
— Tomasz Siemoniak (@TomaszSiemoniak) April 13, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Sunday’s video “should open the eyes of all those who downplay this threat and unjustly attack those defending the Polish borders.”
“Thanks to the commitment and work of the officers and the sealing of the border, Poland is safe,” he added.Film zamieszczony przez @JacekDobrzynski na którym grupa agresorów wraz z funkcjonariuszem białoruskich służb próbuje wedrzeć się do Polski powinien otworzyć oczy wszystkim, którzy bagatelizują to zagrożenie oraz bezpodstawnie atakują obrońców polskich granic. Dzięki…
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) April 13, 2025
Poland has reinforced its 186-kilometer border with Belarus with a 5.5-meter steel barrier topped with concertina wire, backed by a sophisticated electronic monitoring system. Authorities say the combination has sealed 98% of the border against unauthorized crossings.
Between April 7 and 10, Polish officials recorded 305 attempted illegal entries, according to the Border Guard.
A "buffer zone" covering nearly 60 km of the border restricts access up to 4 km inland in some areas. The zone was reintroduced in June 2024 and extended again in March for another 90 days. In parallel, Poland has suspended the right to apply for asylum in the area under a regulation that came into force in late March.
The border crisis, ongoing since 2021, began after Belarus was accused of facilitating the movement of migrants from countries including Iraq and Afghanistan to the EU’s eastern border via Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Western governments see the strategy as a form of hybrid warfare by Minsk, backed by Moscow, aimed at destabilizing the EU.
