Two large groups of migrants broke through the fence on the Polish-Belarusian border and crossed into the territory of Poland, the Polish news agency PAP reported.
Based on the news of the local radio of Bialystok, it was written that dozens of people destroyed the border fence near the settlements of Krynki and Bialowieza on Tuesday evening and crossed the border. Some border violators were turned back to Belarus, while others managed to escape.
Illegal immigrants, most of them from Iraq, have been arriving at the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia, the EU member states neighboring Belarus, for months. The European Union accuses Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of organizing the transport of migrants to the border in retaliation for Western punitive measures against Belarus.
According to the Polish authorities, thousands of migrants are currently on the Belarusian side of the border and they want to launch another attack after the failed mass border crossing attempt on Monday.
The German news agency dpa reported that Polish authorities detained a bus carrying activists from Seebrücken Deutschland and LeaveNoOnBenihd on Tuesday night.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned on Tuesday that the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border threatens the stability of the entire European Union. He vowed that Poland will protect European peace together with its European Union and NATO partners.
Photo: MTI/EPA/Toms Kalnins
In the meantime, a state of emergency came into effect in Lithuania in the area of the Belarusian border due to the migrant crisis that had developed there. The Lithuanian parliament made a decision on the introduction of the extraordinary legal order, which is for the time being only for one month. The measure applies to the five-kilometer strip along the border, as well as to the reception centers where illegal immigrants from Africa and Asia who arrived via Belarus were accommodated. The border zone can only be entered with a special permit (this does not apply to local residents), and it is forbidden to gather there. Migrants staying in reception centers cannot use electronic communication devices and the Internet, they can only be used to communicate with the authorities.
Parliamentary Speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen said that the means available to the government to fight against illegal migration are no longer sufficient amid circumstances where the strengthening of "hybrid attacks" against Poland also threaten the peace of Lithuania.
Since the beginning of the year, more than four thousand illegal immigrants have been detained at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, fifty times more than last year as a whole.
Source: MTI/Vásárnap
Image: PAP
