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Rush of migrants: Poland has closed the border crossing with Belarus

2021-11-09T08:43:34.148Z


Poland has taken further precautions to stop refugees trying to enter via Belarus. In the morning the Kuznica border crossing was closed. Prime Minister Morawiecki sees the EU in danger.


Enlarge image

In this image from a video by the Polish Ministry of the Interior, security forces watch some migrants through a barbed wire fence.

Photo: - / dpa

According to the knowledge of the Polish authorities, there are currently between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants trying to enter illegally on the border between Belarus and Poland.

Because of the tense situation, Warsaw closed a border crossing to its eastern neighbor on Tuesday.

The border traffic for goods and people at the Kuznica crossing has been suspended since 7 a.m., a spokeswoman for the Polish border guards confirmed to the German press agency.

Travelers were asked to use the border crossings in Terespol and Bobrowniki.

On Monday, according to Polish authorities, large groups of migrants near Kuznica tried in vain to break through the border.

Poland and the EU are accusing Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of having people flown in from crisis regions in order to smuggle them into the EU.

In response to sanctions against his country, he had declared that he would no longer stop people on their way to a better life in the "cozy West".

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki sees the EU in danger due to the influx of thousands of migrants on the Polish border with Belarus.

"Today the stability and security of the entire EU is at stake," he wrote on Twitter.

"The sealing off of the Polish border is our national interest," explained Morawiecki.

But "this hybrid attack by Lukashenko's regime is directed against all of us."

Poland will not be intimidated and will "defend peace in Europe together with our partners from NATO and the EU".

There have already been several migrant deaths in the border region.

The EU states Poland and Lithuania have reported thousands of border crossings in the past few months.

Germany is considered a main destination for refugees (read more here).

When the temperature was below zero, thousands of migrants spent the night in tents in the border region.

Apart from a stone's throw, the local Polish police authority announced on Twitter on Tuesday morning.

Belarusian state media released photos and videos of people gathered around campfires and children lying in sleeping bags on the ground in the forest area.

Lithuania wants to declare a state of emergency

In view of the worsening situation on the EU's external border with Belarus, Lithuania wants to impose a state of emergency in the border region for one month.

The government of the Baltic EU country submitted a resolution to the parliament in Vilnius for approval on Tuesday.

The cabinet is following a proposal by Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite.

The state of emergency should therefore apply from midnight along the border with Belarus and five kilometers inland and in the migrant shelters in Kybartai, Medininkai, Pabrade, Rukla and Vilnius.

Riots broke out there on Monday - tear gas was used in a camp.

Weber demands: "The eastern EU states need quick and efficient help"

In view of the situation on the EU's external border with Belarus, the CSU European politician Manfred Weber has called for the European Union to take a decisive stance.

"The European message has to be: It's enough!" Said the group leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament of the "Bild" newspaper.

He spoke out in favor of "tightened sanctions" against Lukashenko and those around him.

The EU reaction to Lukashenko's actions must be "closed and determined," Weber demanded.

"The eastern EU states need quick and efficient help."

as / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-11-09

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