Reuters has reported fewer attempts by Poland to cross the Belarusian border

WARSAW / BIALISTOK, Poland (Reuters) – The number of migrants trying to force their way into Belarus from Poland fell again on Friday after an apparent change in attitude that could help calm Minsk’s escalating crisis in a major East-West confrontation. .

The Polish Border Guard on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 said there were 195 attempts to cross the border on Friday, less than 250 on Thursday and 501 the day before, although Warsaw warned that the migrant crisis was far from over.

Europe accuses Belarus of flying 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 last year’s elections.

Belarus, which denies promoting the crisis, cleared a migrant camp near the border on Thursday and began repatriating some people to Iraq, but Poland said on Friday that Minsk was still in trucks https://reut.rs/3CujCCI to that hundreds of migrants. muga.

“Yesterday … there were several attempts to cross the border by force. The largest group consisted of about 200 foreigners, including dozens of people. The foreigners were aggressive: they threw stones, firecrackers and used tear gas,” the Border Guard said. On Twitter on Saturday.

Polish police said in an attempt to cross near the town of Starzyna on Friday that Belarusian soldiers threw stones at Polish border guards, police and soldiers, resulting in damage to police cars.

Although attempts to cross the border have failed, Polish authorities say more tensions are expected.

“No, this political crisis is not ending. Belarus is still interested in stepping up and continuing operations against Poland,” Polish security spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn wrote on Twitter.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will visit Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Sunday to discuss the crisis, a government spokesman said on Saturday.

‘JOAN POLAND’

The migrants, who call it a “safe place” run by locals on the Polish border, told Reuters that even after the camp was dismantled, Belarusian security forces continued to push them across the border. One of them got it on Thursday night.

“We came from the forests, they (Belarusian forces) told us every day‘ Go to Poland ’and we couldn’t cross it, so they tried to cross it by force,” said a Syrian migrant.

“It was very tiring, cold, without food, water, heat or anything. I came looking for a peaceful country, I want to live,” he added.