{"id":2519,"date":"2021-11-09T16:14:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news25.org\/?p=2519"},"modified":"2021-11-09T16:14:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T16:14:37","slug":"riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Polish riot police reinforced Poland\u2019s 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.<\/strong><gwmw style=\"display:none;\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Polish authorities reported that the situation on the border \u2014 which is also the eastern border for the 27-nation European Union and NATO \u2014 was calm overnight and Tuesday morning, but after Monday\u2019s border scrum they said they were bracing for any possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Poland\u2019s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrants, who were camping out on the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, from the region\u2019s 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 \u201ccontrol, steer and direct these people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/news25.org\/belarus-migrants-eu-accuses-lukashenko-of-gangster-style-abuse\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2496\">Belarus migrants: EU accuses Lukashenko of gangster-style abuse<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/news25.org\/man-shot-by-kyle-rittenhouse-says-he-pointed-own-gun-amid-fears-for-life\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2508\">Man shot by Kyle Rittenhouse says he pointed own gun amid fears for life<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s authoritarian regime has encouraged migrants to illegally enter the EU. Belarus borders EU nations Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EU reacted Tuesday by tightening visa rules for Belarus officials over what it\u2019s calling a \u201chybrid attack\u201d by Belarus against the entire bloc. EU headquarters said it was \u201cpartially suspending\u201d an agreement it has with Belarus that eases visa rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move hits Belarusian government officials, lawmakers, diplomats and top court representatives. It increases travel red tape and requires them to provide extra documents and pay more for visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0videos\u00a0posted on Twitter by Polish police, the migrants were camping out in tents and cooking over camp\u00a0fires\u00a0in near-freezing temperatures. The Polish police played an announcement warning the migrants that crossing the Polish border is only allowed at official border crossings, where visas are required.<gwmw style=\"display:none;\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as of early Tuesday, the nearest crossing point in Kuznica was closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.N. refugee agencies \u2014 the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration \u2014 called the situation \u201calarming.\u201d They said they have been in contact with both the Polish and Belarusian governments and urged them to ensure that the large group in the makeshift camp received humanitarian assistance.<gwmw style=\"display:none;\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For months thousands of migrants, mostly from the Mideast, have sought to illegally enter Poland, and have often ended up stuck in a forested area of swamps and bogs, pushed back and forth between Belarusian and Polish forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One man who lives in Bialowieza, a Polish village in the restricted area, told The Associated Press that he has met many migrants and they are often very thirsty, hungry and in need of boots or medical care. He is among local volunteers providing food and other aid to the migrants and spoke on condition of anonymity because Polish authorities discourage such help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey are in really bad condition and the situation is getting worse\u201d as the temperatures drop, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said some of the migrants are not aware of where they are, believing they are already in Germany and appeared to have been \u201cvery disinformed by Belarusian soldiers and guards.\u201d He said some were looking for taxis, unaware that no taxis are allowed in the closed zone. So far at least eight migrants have reportedly died in the difficult crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, accompanied by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, went to the border on Tuesday morning to meet with border guards and other security officials. Morawiecki praised them and said: \u201cWe do not know what else Lukashenko\u2019s regime will come up with \u2014 this is the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Lithuania\u2019s government on Tuesday asked parliament to declare a state of emergency along the border with Belarus for a month beginning at midnight. It would reach five kilometers (three miles) inland, as well as in migrant accommodation facilities in Vilnius and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Poland has received strong signals of solidarity from the EU, other EU nations and the United States in the confrontation with Belarus. Analysts and some officials believe that Lukashenko is acting with the backing of Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Germany\u2019s outgoing interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said all EU countries \u201cmust stand together, because Lukashenko is using people\u2019s fates \u2014 with the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin \u2014 to destabilize the West.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Poles are fulfilling a very important service for the whole of Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many migrants have flown to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on tourist visas, and from there travel by taxi to the border with Poland. The EU is seeking to pressure airlines not to facilitate such trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although direct flights from Iraq to Minsk were suspended in August, migrants have been flying into Belarus via flights from Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and even Russia, according to recent internal EU migration reports seen by the AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On social media, smugglers have advertised transportation from Belarus to Germany by car. Many of the migrants have ended up in Germany, but some traveled all the way to Finland by ferry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polish riot police reinforced Poland\u2019s 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 \u2014 which is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,48],"tags":[1281,80,125,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-2519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"category-world","9":"tag-belarus-border","10":"tag-european-union","11":"tag-migration","12":"tag-poland"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Polish riot police reinforced Poland\u2019s 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 \u2014 which is [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 25\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-09T16:14:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-09T16:14:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/\",\"name\":\"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-09T16:14:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-09T16:14:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fb78defc871dfe8e3e0ec81c682670ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"IMAGE COPYRIGHT \/ AFP\/ Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere chops down trees as they gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union's eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov\/BelTA via AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/\",\"name\":\"News 25\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fb78defc871dfe8e3e0ec81c682670ad\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c72f0b07641386181ab735b375a4a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c72f0b07641386181ab735b375a4a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25","og_description":"Polish riot police reinforced Poland\u2019s 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 \u2014 which is [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/","og_site_name":"News 25","article_published_time":"2021-11-09T16:14:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-09T16:14:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/","url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/","name":"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border - News 25","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-11-09T16:14:34+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-09T16:14:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fb78defc871dfe8e3e0ec81c682670ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1000-7.jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"IMAGE COPYRIGHT \/ AFP\/ Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere chops down trees as they gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union's eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov\/BelTA via AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/riot-police-sent-in-amid-standoff-at-poland-belarus-border\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Riot police sent in amid standoff at Poland-Belarus border"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/","name":"News 25","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fb78defc871dfe8e3e0ec81c682670ad","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c72f0b07641386181ab735b375a4a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c72f0b07641386181ab735b375a4a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2527,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions\/2527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}