Belarus

BIELSK PODLASKI, Poland/BRUZGI, Belarus, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Poland accused Belarus on Friday of trucking hundreds of migrants back to the border and pushing them to attempt to cross illegally, only hours after clearing camps at a frontier that has become the focus of an escalating East-West crisis.

The accusation by Poland suggests the crisis has not been resolved by an apparent change of tack by Minsk, which on Thursday had cleared the main camps by the border and allowed the first repatriation flight to Iraq in months.

Polish forces have used tear gas and water cannon against migrants trying to cross into the country from Belarus.

Videos showed migrants throwing stones and other objects at the Polish forces guarding a fortified border crossing.

For weeks, thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been gathering at the Belarus border in an attempt to reach the European Union.

Belarus has been accused of pushing migrants to the border to try to destabilise the EU, a charge it denies.

Belarus border crisis boils over: Polish cops unleash water cannons, tear gas and flash grenades on migrants as guards are pelted with rocks

Polish border guards have fought off an attack by hundreds of migrants at the frontier with Belarus with water cannon and flash grenades this morning, in the latest escalation of tensions on the EU’s eastern front.

The Warsaw authorities issued orders to douse a group who were throwing stones, smoke bombs and pieces of metal fence at their soldiers despite the near-freezing conditions, MailOnline can reveal.

One police officer was rushed to hospital with a suspected fractured skull after being hit in the face.

Poland is braced for a major assault by migrants on its frontier with Belarus tonight after receiving intelligence of a huge build up of enemy troops.

Polish Border Force guards claim their Belarusian counterparts are issuing the thousands of stranded migrants with instructions, equipment and weapons to force their way into the EU.

The attack is believed to be planned for frontier at Kuznica, one of two main crossing points from Poland to Belarus.

Poland has released footage of Belarusian forces targeting border guards with lasers and strobe lights, and accused them of trying to destroy anti-migrant fencing and arming migrants with tear gas.

“Belarusian soldiers tried to destroy a Polish border fence last night,” the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, alleged in a statement shared to social media.

Belarus’s leader has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Europe if sanctions are imposed over an escalating migrant crisis at the country’s border.

Thousands of people are at the border with Poland, enduring freezing conditions in the hope of crossing into the European Union.

EU officials have accused Belarus of provoking the crisis to undermine its security, an allegation it denies.

In retaliation, the EU is reportedly planning a fresh package of sanctions.

If the dramatic images of hundreds of migrants massed together on the Polish border, facing off against a wall of Polish soldiers and border guards, don’t already underline that the Merkel era is over, Germany’s response surely should. The line among Germany’s political class now seems to be that 2015 was the right thing to do, and must never be repeated…

The European Commission has accused Belarus’s authoritarian leader of luring migrants with the false promise of easy entry to the EU as part of an “inhuman, gangster-style approach”.

At least 2,000 migrants are now at the Belarus border with Poland.

“Upon arrival they are being pushed to the border and forced to make an illegal entry into the European Union,” said Commission spokesman Peter Stano.

Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko denies orchestrating the problem.

Video clips have shown hundreds of migrants walking towards the Polish border near Kuznica village and some trying to breach a fence using spades and other tools 3/6 pic.twitter.com/9ZClFBeGCm

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 9, 2021

KYIV, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Polish authorities accused Belarus of trying to spark a major confrontation on Monday and said they had mobilised additional soldiers as footage on social media showed hundreds of migrants walking towards the Polish border.

In one video, shared by the Belarusian blogging service NEXTA, migrants carrying rucksacks and wearing winter clothing were seen walking on the side of a highway.

Other videos showed large groups of migrants sitting by the road and being escorted by armed men dressed in khaki.

Grupa migrantów znajduje się obecnie w okolicach Kuźnicy pic.twitter.com/w5VxXp9QqQ

— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 8, 2021