A Polish soldier who fled to Belarus last Thursday will face charges of desertion, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office said on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Prosecutor’s office told PAP that if convicted, the man could face up to 10 years in prison.

She added that an arrest warrant for the soldier will be issued.

On Friday, media reported that a Polish soldier had abandoned his post on the Belarusian border, where Poland is tackling a migration crisis, and had fled to Belarus.

The information emerged after the Belarusian border authorities announced that a Polish soldier had applied for asylum.

They named the man as Emil Czeczko and said he had been detained by a Belarusian patrol on Thursday afternoon. He reportedly expressed opposition to Poland’s policy on the migration crisis.