The situation at the Belarus border has escalated! Poland speaks of an “attack by the migrants” - and takes drastic measures

Thousands of migrants want to cross the border between Belarus and Poland in the direction of Germany.

Western heads of state are now trying telephone diplomacy.

The news ticker.

• Belarus crisis: Prime Minister Alexander Lukashenko's regime is apparently targeting migrants to the border with Poland.

• Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Lukashenko on the matter, and French President Emmanuel Macron called Russian President Vladimir Putin

  (update from November 16, 6.45 a.m.)

  .

• Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas comments on the possible admission of refugees

  (update from November 15, 5:55 p.m.)

  .

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from November 16, 1:33 p.m.:

Because of the crisis surrounding migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko again.

The Kremlin announced in Moscow on Tuesday that it was about the situation in the border area.

In addition, the two heads of state had discussed how the borders of the common union state could be protected, reported the Belarusian state agency Belta.

Details were initially not given.

Both had already phoned last week.

Lukashenko informed Putin about his phone call with Chancellor Angela Merkel the day before.

Poland reports seriously injured police officers on the border with Belarus

Update from November 16, 1:20 p.m.:

A police officer was seriously injured in the clashes between Polish security forces and refugees on the border with Belarus.

According to the Polish police, the officer suffered a fractured skull on Tuesday.

The police used tear gas against the refugees who want to get to Poland and thus the EU;

stones were thrown out of the crowd of refugees.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the actions of the Polish security forces against the refugees as "absolutely unacceptable".

According to Lavrov, the Polish security forces used not only tear gas but also a water cannon and “fired shots over the heads of migrants in the direction of Belarus”.

Also interesting:

Situation at the Belarus border escalates: Poland speaks of an “attack by the migrants” - and takes drastic measures

Update from November 16, 12 noon:

On Tuesday, the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland escalated to the thousands of migrants. Belarusian state media showed in various video sequences how water cannons were used by the Polish side against the migrants at the Kuznica-Brusgi crossing. You could see soaked people, including journalists, who were hit by the water jet. The Polish Ministry of Defense also released a video showing the use of a water cannon.

The Ministry in Warsaw spoke of an "attack by migrants" at the Kuznica border crossing.

The refugees are very aggressive and would throw stones at soldiers and security forces, wrote the ministry on Tuesday in the short message service Twitter.

They were also equipped with pop grenades from the Belarusian side.

The Belarusian footage also showed migrants throwing stones at the Polish security forces.

"The migrants attacked our soldiers and officials with stones and are trying to destroy the fence and come to Poland," said the Polish Ministry of Defense.

"Our forces used tear gas to stop the migrants' aggression."

Conflict over migrants at Belarus' border: Poland raises new allegations

Update from November 16, 10:05 a.m.:

Poland has accused the Belarusian security organs of damaging the Polish border fortifications on Tuesday night.

The Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday via Twitter that migrants stuck at the border should be able to illegally cross the EU's external border.

A video posted on the Belarusian side of the border shows a person in combat uniform tampering with the barbed wire barn in the dark.

The information cannot be independently verified as Poland has declared a state of emergency in the border region.

Białoruskie służby pod osłoną nocy niszczą ogrodzenie, by umożliwić migrantom nielegalne przekroczenie granicy.

pic.twitter.com/die9yCBKWP

- Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 16, 2021

The people on the border spent another night in the cold in the open air.

Pictures from the Belarusian state agency Belta showed migrants wrapped in blankets, while others slept in tents.

Many would have spent the night on the cold ground at the Kuznica border crossing.

More than three tons of relief supplies were brought into the border area.

Red Cross helpers distributed milk, bread and canned meat mainly to women and children.

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Migrants on Monday evening at the Belarusian-Polish border.

© LEONID SHCHEGLOV / AFP

Ruler Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting on the situation on the border that it was a matter of protecting the country and the population and preventing clashes.

Lukashenko also said on Tuesday that he expected another phone call with Chancellor Angela Merkel (

).

Belarus crisis: Merkel phone call with Lukashenko appalles Greens - “Panic before entry”?

Update from November 16, 9.00 a.m.:

Chancellor Angela Merkel's * (CDU) phone call with the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko (

) met with heavy criticism from the ranks of the Greens. The Greens foreign politician Omid Nouripour spoke on Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk of a “devastating signal”. He pointed out that the EU does not recognize the controversial re-election of Lukashenko in 2020. With her phone call, however, Merkel de facto achieved exactly this recognition.

Nouripour emphasized that the EU should not allow itself to be blackmailed by Lukashenko, but also urged humanitarian aid for the refugees stuck in the border area. It is now particularly important "that these people do not freeze to death at the border," said the Green politician. People must be helped and they must be able to apply for asylum in the EU. Nouripour pointed out that the overall number of refugees was rather small and that, also due to the sanctions, it was not to be expected that more and more migrants would come. He therefore turned against a "panic" in the EU before their possible entry.

There must also be solidarity with the countries particularly affected by the conflict, Poland and Lithuania, said the Green politician.

At the same time, however, the EU must also urge compliance with the law there.

Specifically, Nouripour turned against so-called pushbacks of refugees by Polish security forces. 

Belarus crisis: Merkel and Macron intervene - Is Putin's commitment?

Update from November 16, 6.45 a.m.:

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and French President Emmanuel Macron have tried to settle the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border with telephone

. According to government spokesman Steffen Seibert, Merkel telephoned the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko on Monday about the situation at the border and possible humanitarian aid. Both sides agreed to "continue the exchange on these issues".

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And he could have made the breakthrough.

According to the Elysée Palace in Paris, Putin and Macron are said to have agreed on a “de-escalation”.

Although there is “no agreement on the analysis of the cause of the current crisis”, Putin has recognized the need to “put an end to it, above all out of respect for the migrants who have been instrumentalized in this way”.

Belarus-Poland border: Putin promises Macron a meeting with Lukashenko

Paris is now hoping that the “long conversation will lead to results in the coming days”.

Putin had promised that he would “talk about it” with Lukashenko, who had threatened Russia's nuclear power in the event of a mistake.

Putin said in an interview at the weekend that the European heads of state and government would have to speak to Lukashenko in order to resolve the crisis.

Merkel is ready to do so according to his knowledge.

Merkel * asked Putin to mediate in the conflict last week.

Belarus crisis: accepting refugees?

After dramatic pictures - Germany makes a decision

Update from November 15, 7:25 p.m.:

Who supposedly wants to cross the Belarusian-Polish border to Germany?

Most migrants come from Iraq, reported the ZDF's “heute journal” on Monday evening.

Therefore, after pressure from the EU and Moscow, the Belarusian government is now trying to persuade Baghdad to bring the refugees back, the report said.

Only at the Belarusian-Polish border crossing at Kuznica would around 3,500 migrants remain.

According to ZDF information from Warsaw, a storm on the Polish border crossing cannot be ruled out.

The situation at the border apparently remains tense.

Belarus: Foreign Minister Maas does not want to accept migrants from the EU's external border into Germany

Update from November 15, 5:55 p.m.:

Videos and reports from people seeking protection and refugees at the Belarusian-Polish border who shout "Germany, Germany, Germany" are circulating on the Internet.

Your destination should therefore be Germany.

But apparently nothing will come of it.

At least if the executive federal government has its way.

On this Monday, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) publicly spoke out against accepting refugees from the EU border area with Belarus in Germany.

After consultations with his EU colleagues in Brussels, Maas described this as an important signal to Belarus and possible imitator countries that “the EU cannot be blackmailed”.

He advocated bringing all people back to their countries of origin.

Maas emphasized that the migrants were "brought there by the Lukashenko regime under false pretenses".

It is not known whether they have grounds for asylum.

Therefore, the countries of origin must now take on their part of the responsibility.

Pictures of numerous refugees and asylum seekers waiting in the bitter cold, for example at the border crossing between Bruzgi in Belarus and Kuznica in Poland, polarize Europe-wide.

In order to stop the alleged smuggling of further migrants by the Lukashenko regime, the EU wants to present a list of sanctions "in the coming days", according to Maas.

By means of this, the Belarusian airline Belavia and other airlines and travel agencies - also in third countries - who are involved in the alleged smuggling of migrants, are to be sanctioned.

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Polarizing images: Numerous refugees on the border between Bruzgi in Belarus and Kuznica in Poland.

© IMAGO / ITAR-TASS

Update from November 15, 5:30 p.m.:

Not only the tensions between Poland and Belarus are in focus these days, but once again the differences between Ukraine and Russia.

NATO is now observing unusual movements of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, which is expressing concern.

President Vladimir Putin weighs it down.

Belarus crisis: Poland wants to build a fortified border soon

Update from November 15, 5:13 p.m.:

Poland wants to start building a permanent fortification on the border with Belarus this year. The construction work is to start on four border sections at the same time, wrote Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski on Twitter on Monday. It should be built around the clock. The background to this is the influx of migrants from crisis areas who want to enter the EU illegally via Belarus.

Poland has already put up a temporary fence along the border. This is a barbed wire fence around 2.50 meters high. This is now to be replaced by a permanent barrier 5.5 meters high, which is equipped with motion detectors and cameras. A budget of the equivalent of 366 million euros is planned for the project. The new border fortification is to be built over a total length of 180 kilometers in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Update from November 15, 3:35 p.m.:

The FDP foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff has described the new sanctions against the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko as correct. "Everyone who is responsible for the cynical game with human fate must be hit economically where it hurts," said the deputy FDP parliamentary group leader on Monday in Berlin.

“Ukraine should also show the solidarity of its European partners so that it can withstand the pressure from Belarus, which is supported by Moscow.” For the migrants who persevere in the cold, it is most important that humanitarian aid organizations are given full access to the border area as quickly as possible.

“No more people are allowed to lose their lives.

In the long term, however, such a situation can only be prevented by a common asylum and foreign policy in the EU, ”said Lambsdorff.

Belarus: Poland shows new aerial photos of the border - new camp created?

Update from November 15, 2:35 p.m.:

Aerial photos by the Polish Interior Ministry from the Kuznica border crossing with Belarus show a huge group of migrants at the border.

The refugees gathered right at the border crossing and distributed them on the meadow next to the crossing.

They are obviously using this area as a new camp.

Sytuacja na przejściu granicznym w Kuźnicy widziana z pokładu policyjnego śmigłowca.

🎥 @podlaskaPolicja

pic.twitter.com/ywK7YhihCo

- MSWiA (@MSWiA_GOV_PL) November 15, 2021

In the meantime, the Polish border guards have stationed themselves in front of the migrants with water cannons to prevent a possible breach.

The Polish secret service coordinator Stanislaw Zaryn blamed the latest rumors for the new rush.

"The rumors about the alleged consent to travel to Poland were made credible by the Belarusian services," Zaryn emphasized on Twitter.

Belarus is deliberately escalating and controlling the refugees, according to the intelligence service coordinator: "They are controlling the migrants and are currently deliberately collecting them around the closed border crossing."

Update from November 15, 1:03 p.m.:

In the crisis

thousands of migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border, Russia offered itself as a mediator between Belarus and the EU.

When asked how Moscow could help, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency: "In this case, only as a negotiator."

Russian President Vladimir Putin * had previously offered help, but did not say what it would look like in concrete terms.

The Kremlin chief also expressed hope for a conversation between the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel and the authoritarian Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. 

Belarus crisis: EU foreign ministers approve sanctions against Belarus - migrants on their way to the Polish border crossing

Update from November 15, 12:38 p.m.:

The foreign ministers of the EU countries have decided on a new sanction

against those involved in the transport of migrants to Belarus.

The European Union will now be able to target people and institutions who have helped the Belarusian regime to instrumentalize people for political purposes, the Council of Member States announced on Monday.

The new sanction instrument is to be used against the state-owned Belarusian airline Belavia, among others.

In the future, this should no longer be allowed to use machines from European companies that lease aircraft.

The aim is that Belavia will no longer be able to fly as many people from poor or conflict-ridden countries to Belarus to be smuggled on to the EU.

Aircraft leasing companies that have leased machines to Belavia include Danish company Nordic Aviation Capital and Irish company AerCap.

According to information from EU circles, Belavia recently only leased significantly more than half of the aircraft it used.

According to diplomats, the new sanctions instrument is intended to target several dozen people and companies as a first step.

In addition to Belavia, they should also include tour operators and members of the government apparatus in Belarus who were involved in the smuggling.

Belarus: Poland is stepping up - another video shows a huge column of refugees on their way to the border

Update from November 15, 12.20 p.m.:

Now the Polish Ministry of Defense has also published recordings of the flow of migrants in the direction of the border crossing in Kuznica.

"Other groups of migrants will be directed to the border crossing in Kuznica by Belarusian services," said the ministry's official Twitter account.

Kolejne grupy migrantów są kierowane przez białoruskie służby pod przejście graniczne w Kuźnicy pic.twitter.com/TghHZNVTo5

- Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 15, 2021

The recordings show a huge column of refugees marching to the border crossing, while apparently two Belarusian soldiers are standing on the roadside and do not intervene.

In addition, the migrants' camp was filmed from the air.

According to the Polish Ministry of Defense, the warehouse is now completely empty.

The migrants there ran to the border crossing "under the control of Belarusian security services".

Migration dispute over Lukashenko: EU wants to tighten sanctions

Update from November 15, 11:37 am:

In the refugee conflict with Belarus, the foreign ministers of the European Union want to increase the pressure on Minsk: "We will tighten the sanctions further," said Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) on Monday before consultations with his EU -Colleagues in Brussels.

The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell also announced “a new package of sanctions”.

According to diplomats from Brussels, the foreign ministers want to adopt a new regime of sanctions that will for the first time criminalize the "instrumentalization of refugees" and the smuggling of migrants.

According to Borrell, the new punitive measures are intended to affect airlines, travel agencies and other responsible parties who are helping Belarus.

Maas threatened to withdraw the overflight and landing permits in Europe from airlines from third countries.

The EU had already imposed a corresponding ban on Belarusian airlines in May.

Maas also called "tough economic sanctions inevitable".

According to earlier statements, the SPD politician is thinking of the Belarusian potash industry, which is pouring foreign currency into the country's coffers.

After the expected approval of the EU foreign ministers for the extended sanction criteria on Monday, according to information from Brussels diplomats, it will take a few more weeks before a list of affected airlines or those responsible for the smuggling is published.

Belarus-Poland: Hundreds of migrants gather at the Bruzgi-Kuznica border crossing

Update from November 15, 11.30 a.m.:

Hundreds of migrants in camps on the Polish border have left their tents and made their way to the Kuznica border crossing.

The refugees apparently tore down the fences in front of the camps.

A wave of people has smashed the fence (not the border one).

There really is a lot of people, the column stretched for about 1 kilometer, some people are still leaving the camp.

pic.twitter.com/QdnNPa8uW0

- Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) November 15, 2021

The recordings published by Belarusian journalist Tadeusz Giczan show hundreds of migrants walking towards the border crossing.

According to the journalist, the column extends for around a kilometer.

Meanwhile, migrants are still leaving the camp to get to the border crossing.

In order to prevent the border from being breached, Polish security forces formed a line in front of the migrants with signs and sealed off the border crossing with barbed wire, as further images from the area show.

A large group of refugees sat down directly in front of the barbed wire opposite the Polish border guard.

According to Giczan, teams from Russian and Belarusian broadcasters are also on site.

Belarus crisis: RT France team arrested at the Polish border

Update from November 15, 10:36 am:

"It will be a very exhausting day for us," said EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell in the run-up to the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels for further sanctions against Belarus.

In a telephone conversation he had made it clear to the Belarusian foreign minister that the situation on the border with Poland was "unacceptable".

The flow of migrants towards the Polish border through flights must be stopped, so Borrell.

Thanks to the talks with the countries of origin and transit countries, this was "almost done," said the EU foreign policy representative.

A “hybrid attack” against the EU must be prevented and humanitarian aid must also be provided to the people on the border.

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According to the EU foreign policy representative Josep Borrell, the talks with countries of origin and transit countries are proving successful.

© Francois Mori / AP / dpa

Update from November 15, 10:27 a.m.:

Polish security forces have arrested a film crew from the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today on the border between Poland and Belarus.

The broadcaster announced.

It is said to be a team from the French-language edition

.

“A team from RT France was arrested by Polish law enforcement agencies while correspondents were covering the current refugee crisis on the border with Belarus.

The last thing the correspondent reported was that they were handcuffed, ”reported the German edition of the station.

After a live broadcast, reporter David Khalifa and cameraman Jordi Demory were arrested, according to RT Deutsch, citing RT France.

The broadcaster also complained about the “unfriendly attitude” of the Polish security officers towards its team.

Belarus: Lukashenko rows back a little after border escalation - migrants should "return home"

Update from November 15, 9.45 a.m.:

According to the ruler Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus is trying to repatriate migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border to their home countries.

“Active work is being done to convince people to please return home.

But nobody wants to return, ”said Lukashenko on Monday, according to the state news agency Belta.

Belarus also wants “no border conflict” with Poland.

Belarus: Migrants at the Polish border - Iraq organizes return flights for refugees

First report from November 15, 9:30 a.m .:

With the hope of gaining access to EU countries, thousands of migrants are still waiting in icy temperatures on the Belarusian-Polish border.

The situation there is still very tense.

Previously, rumors circulated that migrants were preparing a rush to the border.

This alerted the Polish security forces.

The government in Warsaw and the EU accuse the authoritarian Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of targeting people from crisis regions in order to smuggle them into the EU.

Lukashenko has so far rejected the allegations and threatens the EU, among other things with the shutdown of gas lines.

Die EU-Außenminister wollen jetzt neue Sanktionen gegen Belarus auf den Weg bringen und treffen sich hierfür in Brüssel. Nach Angaben von Bundesaußenminister Heiko Maas (SPD) sollen die Sanktionen auf Personen erweitert werden, „die mittelbar oder unmittelbar“ die Schleusungen von Migranten nach Belarus unterstützen.

Ein Großteil der Migranten an der polnischen Grenze stammt aus dem nördlichen Teil des Irak. Die Regierung in Bagdad unternimmt nun konkrete Schritte und will die Flüchtlinge in ihre Heimat zurückholen.

Belarus-Krise: Irak verkündet Rückführungsflüge - „auf freiwilliger Basis“

Irakische Staatsbürger könnten am Donnerstag auf "freiwilliger" Basis in ihre Heimat zurückkehren, sagte Außenamtssprecher Ahmed al-Sahaf in der Nacht zum Montag im irakischen Fernsehen.

The Iraqi authorities have "registered 571 Iraqis" in the border area who have volunteered to return to their homeland.

The first flight to bring the migrants to Iraq will be on November 18, al-Sahaf said.

"We support the voluntary return of refugees," emphasized the Foreign Office spokesman.

The private Syrian airline Cham Wings had previously suspended its flights to Belarus due to the refugee crisis.

The Turkish government had banned people from Syria, Iraq and Yemen from traveling to Belarus.

Air traffic between Baghdad and Minsk was suspended in August.

*

List of rubric lists: © Leonid Shcheglov / afp