Poland Closes Border With Belarus Amid Migrant Crisis; Minsk Warns Against 'Provocations'

Poland has accused Belarus of “attacking” its eastern border while the European Union said Minsk was resorting to "gangster-style" tactics in an intensifying migration crisis that has left hundreds of migrants trapped in the open in freezing temperatures at the bloc's eastern frontier.

Polish authorities were bracing for further clashes on November 9 as hundreds of migrants gathered on the Belarusian side of the border after attempting to break through razor-wire fencing the previous day to enter EU-member Poland.

In recent months, thousands of migrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa have attempted to illegally enter Poland and fellow EU members Latvia and Lithuania from Belarus.

The EU has accused Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying in migrants and funneling them to the bloc's borders to retaliate against Brussels for sanctions imposed over a sweeping crackdown since last year’s disputed presidential election.

"This is part of the inhuman and really gangster-style approach of the Lukashenka regime," a European Commission spokesman, Peter Stano, told journalists on November 9.

"The Belarusian regime is attacking the Polish border, the EU, in an unparalleled manner," Polish President Andrzej Duda told a news conference in Warsaw on November 9.

"We currently have a camp of migrants who are blocked from the Belarusian side. There are about 1,000 people there, mostly young men. These are aggressive actions that we must repel, fulfilling our obligations as a member of the European Union," he said.

Hundreds of migrants shivered in freezing temperatures and huddled round campfires on the Belarusian border with Poland overnight in front of razor wire fences and lines of Polish border guards blocking their entry into the European Union.

The EU said November 9 that it was pressing more than a dozen countries to prevent their nationals leaving for Belarus to attempt getting into the bloc. Among those countries were Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Georgia.

Brussels has already pushed Iraq to halt flights from Baghdad to Minsk, the EU said.

The Polish government on November 8 posted videos on Twitter showing migrants using what appeared to be logs, spades, and other instruments to try to get past a razor-wire border fence. The Interior Ministry said it had rebuffed the attempt.

A spokesman for Poland's special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Belarusian security personnel were "firing empty shots into the air, simulating dangerous events."

"We also know the Belarusian authorities are helping migrants to destroy the border barriers. We see how they bring them tools to cut wires... to destroy the fence," he added.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter on November 9 that "the stability and security of the entire EU is at stake," and blamed the migrant crisis along the border as a "hybrid attack" orchestrated by Belarus.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he had spoken to Duda about the situation.

"Belarus using migrants as a hybrid tactic is unacceptable," Stoltenberg tweeted. "NATO stands in solidarity and all our allies in the region.”

https://twitter.com/PremierRP_en/status/1457757961397444611

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Lukashenka's government, which is backed by Russia, denies manufacturing the migrant crisis and accuses the Poland and the EU of violating human rights by refusing to allow the migrants apply for asylum.

Belarusian Defense Ministry called the allegations from Poland "unfounded," while the Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning Warsaw "against any provocations.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenka talked about the refugees at the Polish and Lithuanian borders, the Kremlin press service said on November 9.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on November 8 called on EU member states to “finally approve the extended sanctions regime on the Belarusian authorities responsible for this hybrid attack.”

The EU will explore how to sanction, including through "blacklisting third country airlines that are active in human trafficking,” she said.

Meanwhile, the EU has suspended its visa-facilitation agreement with Belarus over the situation. The suspension of parts of the agreement will apply to Belarusian officials and not affect ordinary citizens, the European Council said on November 9.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/11/09/belarus-council-suspends-visa-facilitation-provisions-for-officials-of-the-belarus-regime/?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Belarus%3a+Council+suspends+visa+facilitation+provisions+for+officials+of+the+Belarus+regime#

Poland has already imposed a state of emergency at the border and increased the number of soldiers and guards to more than 12,000. Lawmakers have also approved the building of a $407 million wall on its eastern border.
https://www.rferl.org/a/poland-belarus-border-wall-migrants/31536084.html

Lithuanian officials are preparing for the possibility of a similar situation along its border with Belarus amid reports migrants are also being transferred to its border.

https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/simtai-nelegalu-jau-ties-kapciamiesciu-ginkluoti-baltarusijos-pareigunai-instruktavo-kad-nakti-jie-tures-eiti-i-lietuva.d?id=88622643

“We are getting ready for all possible scenarios,” said Rustamas Liubajevas, the head of Lithuania's border guards.

The Interior Ministry has proposed declaring an emergency situation.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and RFE/RL's Belarus Service

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