{"id":147163,"date":"2025-07-17T12:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/147163\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"polish-interior-minister-blames-minsk-for-migrant-crisis-escalation","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/147163\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish interior minister blames Minsk for migrant crisis escalation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (gov.pl\/mswia)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

July 17, Pozirk<\/em><\/strong>. Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has described the incident at the Belarusian-Polish border two days ago, involving a Molotov cocktail thrown towards Poland through the border fence, as “extremely serious.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian secret services most likely allowed this to happen and Warsaw intends to lodge a protest, Poland\u2019s Wprost <\/em>cited the official as saying. “Belarus is responsible for what is happening from its side [of the border], and this situation is a clear attempt of provocation, an attempt to destabilize the situation,\u201d Siemoniak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such incidents are unacceptable and indicate an escalation of tensions, he noted, adding that Poland reinforced border protections with 11,000 officers and soldiers on alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland has thwarted at least 16,300 irregular crossings by third-country foreigners via Belarus since January, with some 1,700 attempts reported in the first half of July alone, according to Pozirk<\/em>‘s analysis of border guards’ data.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, Polish Defense Minister W\u0142adys\u0142aw Kosiniak-Kamysz\u00a0expressed concern that undocumented migrants trying to cross into his country from Belarus have become increasingly aggressive. The official recalled that soldiers are allowed to use weapons against particularly aggressive trespassers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border has been ongoing since spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent people from Africa and Asia from traveling through Belarus to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors call the crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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