Poland-Belarus border reinforced by riot police, leaving hundreds of migrants stuck

A day earlier, tensions flared at the border as hundreds of Belarus migrants sought to illegally push their way into Poland, escalating a crisis that has been simmering for months.

Polish riot police reinforced Poland’s eastern border on Tuesday, a day after hundreds of migrants tried to storm across the razor-wire border fence from Belarus. Thousands of migrants still remained on the Belarussian side and Polish authorities feared the tense standoff could escalate.

Polish authorities reported that the situation on the border — which is also the eastern border for the 27-nation European Union and NATO — was calm overnight and Tuesday morning, but after Monday’s border scrum they said they were bracing for any possibility.

Poland’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrants, who were camping out on the border.

Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, from the region’s border guards, estimated 3,000-4,000 migrants were along the border, including about 800 in the vicinity of the large makeshift migrant camp. She also said there was a greater concentration of Belarusian services on the border to “control, steer and direct these people.”

She said the Polish assessment comes from aerial observations, and alleged that Belarus authorities were taking journalists to the border area to present the situation to the people of Belarus as propaganda.

There was no way to independently verify what was happening because journalists have limited ability to operate in Belarus and a state of emergency in Poland kept reporters and others out of the border area.

A day earlier, tensions flared as a large group of migrants sought to illegally push their way into Poland, escalating a crisis that has been simmering for months in which Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime has encouraged migrants to illegally enter the EU. Belarus borders EU nations Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

The EU reacted Tuesday by tightening visa rules for Belarus officials over what it’s calling a “hybrid attack” by Belarus against the entire bloc. EU headquarters said it was “partially suspending” an agreement it has with Belarus that eases visa rules.