While the situation is particularly tense in the area, the tragedy could have had uncontrollable consequences. A soldier, a member of the contingent deployed by Poland to the border with Belarus to contain migrants wanting to reach Europe, died of an “unfortunate accident”, the Polish army announced on Saturday.
According to the first observations, “his service weapon set off a shot (…) without the participation of a third person”. The victim “had no contact with the migrants,” assured the army.
State of emergency at the border
Poland has deployed around 15,000 troops along the border, not counting the police and border guards, and almost three months ago established a state of emergency there. The situation remains tense, with troops also deployed on the Belarusian side.
Thousands of migrants, most of them from Africa and the Middle East, have crossed or attempted to cross the border of Belarus in recent months to enter Lithuania, Poland or Latvia, member countries of the Union. European. Brussels accuses Minsk and President Alexander Lukashenko of having deliberately provoked this migratory movement in response to the economic sanctions it has taken against the repression against the opposition in its country.