Police serving at Belarus border are to carry firearms

Increased police forces have been stationed at the Polish-Belarusian border since Tuesday due to migrant attacks and the need for training soldiers and Border Guard officers. The total number of police officers patrolling the Belarus border has now gone up to 370.

During this time, according to the police, there have already been at least six serious incidents in which the services were attacked with stones and branches. The police had to use direct coercion measures, including pepper spray and gas. A water cannon was also dispatched to the scene.

Katarzyna Nowak said the commanding officer has decided that officers are to carry firearms in their holsters. She added that this was permitted under the law on direct coercion measures.

Nowak reminded that the decision to use direct coercion measures depends on the circumstances.

"Direct coercion measures are used in accordance with the law and the gradation of measures. Our goal is to apply measures from the mildest to the most radical. Their use is intended to firstly call people to specific behavior, secondly to restore order, and potentially to incapacitate," the spokesperson explained. She stressed that firearms are an absolute last resort.

Private broadcaster RMF FM was the first to report that police officers serving at the Polish-Belarusian border would carry firearms.

On Thursday, the General Command of the Armed Forces reported the death of a soldier who was stabbed at the end of May by a member of a group of migrants attempting to breach the steel barrier at the border with Belarus.

After the attack on the soldier, Prime Minister Tusk announced the creation of an additional buffer zone at the border with Belarus.

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration is working on the final version of the regulation to address this issue. The regulations were to come into force on June 4, but this date has been postponed due to consultations with local governments, among other things.