In a protest note to Belarus regarding the death of a Polish soldier at the border, Poland has sent a clear message: either Minsk is protecting the perpetrator, or it is not - the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paweł Wroński, said on Friday (June 7). "Everything else is some incomprehensible propaganda twist," he added. Warsaw demanded that Minsk find and hand over the person who stabbed the soldier to the Polish authorities. In its response, Belarus blamed Poland for the current state of relations between the two countries.
On Thursday, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, informed that a protest note was handed over to the Belarusian chargé d'affaires in connection with the death of a Polish soldier who was stabbed at the border with Belarus.
The note contains a demand for the Belarusian authorities to establish the identity of the murderer and extradite him to the Polish authorities.
In response to a question from TASS, the spokesperson for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anatol Hlaz, confirmed on Friday that the Belarusian side had received a note from Poland and that it would consider it taking into account all circumstances.
He expressed sympathy for the relatives and loved ones of the killed soldier, adding that it was necessary to "restore normal border contacts so that such tragedies do not occur". However, Hlaz blamed the Polish side for the current state of relations between the two countries.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paweł Wroński, told PAP that the content of the Polish note was clear: Poland expects Belarus to determine who wounded the soldier and hand them over to Warsaw, but also to cease hybrid attacks.
"This man is on the territory of Belarus, so either this country intends to extradite the murderer, or it does not intend to do so, telling various strange stories" - Wroński added.
He reiterated that in the Polish note "a clear message was included: either you extradite this man, or you don't".
"Everything else is some incomprehensible propaganda twist; we will not respond to such messages and play their game. The murderer of a Polish soldier is either protected by the Belarusian state or not" - the MFA spokesperson stressed.
A soldier of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade died in hospital on Thursday after being stabbed on May 28 at the border with Belarus.
The soldier was attacked on a section of the border near Dubicze Cerkiewne (Podlaskie Voivodeship) by one of the men who were trying to force their way through a steel barrier.
When the soldier was blocking an opening in the barrier with a ballistic shield, the perpetrator reached through fence and stabbed him in the chest.
The aggressive group cast branches and stones at the border guards who tended to the wounded soldier.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: PAP