Belarusian border crisis
New escalation level: Poland uses water cannons – migrants throw stones
A man throws a stone in the direction of the border – in the background the fog of the Polish water cannons is in the air
© Leonid Shcheglov / AFP
The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is worsening dramatically. Poland used water cannons against the people waiting at the border – stones flew from the other side.
Polish security forces used water cannons on the border with Belarus against the migrants who have been holding out at the Kuznica-Brusgi crossing on the Belarusian side since Monday. Both the Belarusian state television and the Polish Ministry of Defense showed the operation in various video sequences on Tuesday.
The Ministry in Warsaw spoke of an “attack by migrants” at the Kuznica border crossing. A spokesman for the Polish police said the people had been equipped with fire grenades and tear gas from the Belarusian side. They also threw stones at the officers. A policeman was said to have been injured by a thrown object and taken to hospital with suspected broken skull. The situation is now under control.
“Our soldiers and officials did their job perfectly. The first wave of attacks on the border was stopped,” wrote the spokesman for the coordinator of the secret services, Stanislaw Zaryn, on Twitter.
Lukashenko expects further talks with Merkel
The Belarusian footage also showed migrants throwing stones at the Polish security forces. According to unconfirmed reports, the Polish side also used tear gas. Poland does not allow media for reporting from the border region.
According to the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, there are more than 2000 people in a “migrant camp” who have been there for days. The videos also showed children crying. Lukashenko announced after his phone call with Chancellor Angela Merkel that he was expecting another conversation with her. Lukashenko said that talks are also pending with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had offered to mediate in the conflict.
Many of the migrants are from Iraq. According to the agency Interfax, the country’s embassy in Moscow informed that around 200 people from Belarus now want to return to their homeland. Among them are families, women and children, it said. An “evacuation flight” from Minsk will be organized for this Thursday.