Poland reports fewer attempts to cross its border with Belarus
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[November 20, 2021]
WARSAW/
BIALYSTOK, Poland (Reuters) -
The number of migrants trying to force their way into Poland from
Belarus fell again on Friday after an apparent change in tack by Minsk
that could help calm a crisis that has escalated into a major East-West
confrontation.
The Polish Border Guard said on Twitter that there were 195 attempts to
cross the frontier on Friday, down from 250 on Thursday and 501 the day
before, though Warsaw warned that the migrant crisis was far from over.
Europe accuses Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle
East and pushing them to cross into the EU, which has been at odds with
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko since a disputed election last
year.
Belarus, which denies fomenting the crisis, cleared a migrant camp near
the border on Thursday and started to repatriate some people to Iraq,
but Poland said on Friday that Minsk was still trucking hundreds
of migrants to the frontier.
"Yesterday ... there were several attempts to forcefully cross the
border. The largest group consisted of about 200 foreigners, the others
of tens of people. The foreigners were aggressive - they threw stones,
firecrackers and used teargas," the Border Guard said on Twitter on
Saturday.
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Polish police said that during one crossing attempt on Friday near the
village of Starzyna, Belarusian servicemen threw stones towards Polish
border guards, policemen and soldiers, resulting in police cars being
damaged.
Despite the fall in the number of attempts to cross the border, Polish
officials said they expected further tensions.
"No, this political crisis is not coming to an end. Belarus is still
interested in escalating and continuing operations against Poland,"
Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for Poland's security services, wrote on
Twitter.
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![](../images/112021pics/news_t71.jpg)
Migrants queue before receiving meals during the distribution of
humanitarian aid on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno
region, Belarus November 20, 2021. Maxim Guchek/BelTA/Handout via
REUTERS
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Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will visit
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Sunday to discuss the crisis, a
government spokesman said on Saturday.
'GO TO POLAND'
Migrants in a so-called 'safe place' run by locals on the Polish
side of the border told Reuters that even after the camp was
dismantled, Belarusian security forces kept pushing them to cross
the border. One of them succeeded on Thursday night.
"We came through the forests, they (Belarusian forces) were telling
us every day 'Go to Poland' and we could not cross, so they tried
making us cross by force," a Syrian migrant said.
"It was very tiring, cold, with no food, no water, no warmth or
anything. I came looking for a peaceful country, I just want to
live," he added.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Sergiy Karazy; Additional
reporting by Yara Abi Nader; Writing by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and
Anna Koper; Editing by David Clarke and Ros Russell)
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