Thousands of migrants on the border between Belarus and Poland. Warsaw: we fear armed escalation

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09 November 2021 - Polish authorities have warned that attempts by migrants to enter Poland illegally could lead to armed violence.

Government spokesman Piotr Muller said up to 4,000 migrants were estimated to have gathered at the eastern border in camps near Kuznica.

Warsaw expects an "escalation of an armed nature," said Muller, quoted by The Independent.

What we see at the borders between Belarus and the European Union (in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland) "is unprecedented. It is an unprecedented situation. It is not a migration crisis, it is a veritable aggression of an illegitimate and desperate regime that we know capable of performing atrocious acts ". This was stated by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, speaking in the European Parliament. Among the "ways to put an end" to what is happening - said Johansson - "we must work with third countries to block flights to Minsk", as well as "work to amend the Schengen code, seeking new methods to respond to this type of aggressions ".

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said he "will not bow to Europe" as thousands of migrants are massed on the border with Poland.

The Belarusian security forces "fired shots in the air, simulating dangerous situations" to further destabilize the situation on the border with Poland. This was stated by the spokesman for the special services of Warsaw, Stanislaw Zaryn. "We also know - he added - that the Belarusian authorities are helping migrants to destroy the border barriers. We see them bringing them the tools to cut the cables, to destroy the fence". Media close to the Minsk government, cited by the German Welt, in turn report gunshots by the Polish side, but there is no confirmation.

In the aggression from Belarus, "Lithuania has been transparent from the start. It has welcomed the support of other member states, EU agencies, Frontex, Europol, Easo. This should be the solution in Poland too. We need Poland. be more transparent ". This was stated by the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, in her reply to the MEPs. "It would be good to have more EU agencies also on the Polish border with Belarus. It is an external border. Not an internal affair between two countries. We need transparency to really know what is happening," he added. Warsaw has refused Frontex support for weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, today discussed the situation of refugees on the borders between Belarus, Poland and Lithuania in a telephone conversation: the Kremlin announced, quoted by Ria Novosti . "The presidents exchanged views on the refugee situation on the Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-Lithuanian borders," the Kremlin said in a statement. Furthermore, Putin and Lukashenko "reaffirmed their commitment" to mutually beneficial integration processes.

Germany appealing to the EU in support of Warsaw, saying that Minsk uses refugees as a "weapon" against Europe. "Poland or Germany cannot handle this alone," German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the Bild newspaper. "We must help the Polish government to protect its external border - he urged - This would be the task of the European Commission, I appeal for it to act. I invite it to act".

France accused Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus of trying to "destabilize" the European Union by organizing "migrant smuggling" at the border. "The (Lukashenko) regime feeds a smuggling of migrants aimed at destabilizing the European Union," said a French diplomacy spokesperson, reiterating France's solidarity with Poland for this ongoing crisis with Minsk.

The Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, will be in the countries of origin and transit of migrants in the next few days who are "exploited" by the Belarusian regime for attacks against the borders of the European Union, in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

The purpose of the trips, the planning of which is still in the process of being finalized, is to increase "information" and "awareness" on the risks and "find forms of collaboration, such as the suspension of flights to Minsk or repatriation", explained the spokesperson for the Executive community, Dana Spinant, highlighting that it is necessary to spread "the message that those who undertake the journey end up in a dangerous trap".

Borrell had been in Iraq with this intent in the past weeks, but in the meantime alternative routes have been opened, explained the spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano.

There is talk of a dozen countries, and another ten are also monitored.

Among these Stano listed: Morocco, Syria, Iran, Qatar, South Africa, Somalia, India, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Russia, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Yemen, explaining that the criteria by which the countries have been chosen are " the frequency and flight patterns, capacity "and other available data which are monitored and verified with the Member States.