aIn Poland’s border with Belarus, large groups of immigrants tried to break through, according to the Polish authorities. The Warsaw Ministry of Defense announced on Twitter on Monday that the attempt took place near the border town of Koznica.
A video posted to this effect shows a group of men in spades and tree trunks attempting to tear down the barbed wire fence at the border. A Polish man in a uniform uses tear gas against men.
The border guards had earlier reported that an attempt by migrants to breach the border was thwarted at lunchtime. Several videos posted on Nexta Twitter on Monday showed how Belarusian forces pushed migrants to the border. You can also see how men with tools, including a side cutter, destroy the boundary fence.
Another video showed men confronting Polish border guards in front of a demolished fence, chanting “German” or “Germany”. Helicopter is also in use. The Polish Ministry of Defense also published an aerial photo from the border area near Konica, where a large group of migrants can be seen in front of the border fence with the European Union.
Many Belarusian journalists work for “Nexta” who consider themselves opponents of the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. According to data from Tadeush Jikzan It is said that at a meeting in Minsk, the migrants decided to move as a large group to the Konica-Borzji border crossing in order to cross it.
Videos on Twitter and Telegram Monday morning showed how a large group of migrants made their way to the border, including women and children. The videos were recorded near the Kuźnica-Bruzgi border crossing, it is said.
One of the clips shows campfires and tents, journalist Tadeusz Gekzan spoke of an “improvised camp”. Belarusian border guards spoke in the late afternoon of 2000 migrants who wanted to cross the border into Poland.
Polish Interior Minister Marius Kaminsky He said that his country is ready for any border situation and has increased the number of border guards, soldiers and police officers. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaschak said 12,000 troops will now be deployed to the border – 2,000 more than before. Other forces are on alert. His ministry, along with the Ministry of the Interior in charge of police and border guards, “is ready to defend the Polish border.”
The Belarusian border guards are supposed to harass the group
Another video of the “Nexta” group shows armed men guarding the convoy of migrants. It seems that this is a special unit of the Belarusian border guard, as reported by WELT correspondent Pavel Lukshin.
“According to the latest information, this huge group of migrants is under the control of the Belarusian Armed Forces, which decides where to go and where not to go,” Polish intelligence coordinator Stanislaw Zarin wrote on Twitter. He spoke of another hostile act by the neighboring country against Poland. So the Polish government formed a crisis team.
Women and children as human shields
Another video from “Nexta” on Sunday afternoon shows how heavily armed Belarusian border guards are using women and children as a human shield to prevent them from returning to Belarus.
Currently, about 800 to 1,000 migrants land in Belarus every day, WELT AM SONNTAG reported, citing German security groups. According to the Federal Police, a total of 572 Belarusians entered Germany illegally in the first four days of November alone. Over the whole of 2021, there were already 8,407 unauthorized border crossings with reference to the Eastern European country.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko plans to expand entry possibilities from the Middle East and increase the number of flights. Lukashenko’s regime lures migrants with visa facilities and smuggles them to the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in order to retaliate against European sanctions.
NATO warns Belarus against exploiting migrants as a tool
NATO warned Belarus not to exploit people against the military alliance. The alliance’s representative in Brussels said on Monday that NATO was concerned about the “recent escalation on the border between Poland and Belarus”. The military alliance is ready to support allies and ensure security.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said there were “indications that the Minsk regime continues to send people to the borders, sometimes under duress, despite adverse conditions and winter temperatures”. Work will continue on a joint response of the European Union “to this treacherous and inhuman behavior of Mr. Lukashenko”.
In recent weeks, in response to the rising numbers of immigrants, Poland has deployed thousands of soldiers to the border, erected a barbed wire fence and declared a state of emergency in the border area. In addition, the so-called feedback has been legalized. Parliament also recently gave the green light to build a fortified border structure on the border with Belarus. The barrier is to extend over 100 kilometers along the eastern external border of the European Union.
After the presidential elections in Belarus last year, which were accompanied by widespread allegations of fraud, and the subsequent brutal crackdown on protesters by the security forces, the European Union imposed a series of punitive measures against the Minsk leadership.
“The situation on the eastern border is unprecedented and is caused by an aggressive and unscrupulous regime,” EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson said in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG. “Lukashenko is desperate, the European Union is taking action against his regime and is considering further sanctions.”