A video posted on Twitter by Polish border guards will show migrants with bags and backpacks being led away from the border by Belarusian officials.
Polish Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik says he has received information that migrants boarded buses, which then left the area. If the information is correct, it could mean a possible de-escalation in the tense situation.
But spokeswoman for the border guards, Anna Michalska, says some of the migrants brought logs with them, which has led to questions about whether the migrants are moved to another place along the border.
Another video shows migrants queuing outside a new camp at Kuznica on the Belarusian side of the border.
161 attempts at illegal passage
Tensions rose on Tuesday as Polish forces at the border used water cannons and tear gas against stone-throwing migrants trying to cross the EU’s eastern border.
The Polish Ministry of Defense claimed that Belarus had equipped migrants with stun grenades and tear gas.
A total of 161 attempts at illegal border crossing were discovered on Tuesday, including two powerful attempts to cross the border registered during the evening, the security forces stated. Two of them are said to have tried to use force.
Nine police officers, one border guard and one soldier were injured in clashes on Tuesday, according to Polish authorities. All were discharged from hospital on Wednesday.
Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, are staying in camps on the border in what the West says is a crisis created by Belarus to divide the EU and fight back against sanctions. Minsk has denied the allegations.
– Can take months
Poland announced on Wednesday that the migrant crisis could be long-lasting.
– We must prepare for the fact that the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border will not be resolved quickly. We have to prepare for months. I hope it does not take years, said Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak to Polish Radio Jedynka.
The migrants’ attempt to cross the border had persisted during the night, according to Blaszczak, who added that they had used “the same method of attacking the Polish border” as on Tuesday.
“Public attention has been focused on what happened in Kuznica, while smaller groups of migrants tried to break through the Polish border elsewhere,” he said.
It is still difficult to independently verify the information, especially as Polish officials keep journalists and aid organizations far away from the border.
Russia happy with direct talks
At the same time, Russia welcomes the fact that direct talks are being held between the EU and Belarus on the migrant crisis.
“It is very important that contact is established between representatives of the EU and the Belarusian leadership,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
The statement came a day after German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko discussed the situation. The two then had an hour-long telephone conversation.
Overnight in warehouse
Around a thousand migrants have spent the night in temporary accommodation in a warehouse on the border between the two countries.
It was originally a larger group that was brought to the warehouse, but about 2,000 of the migrants returned to the tent camp they had stayed in before, a spokesman for the police said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, the Belarussian state news agency Belta published photos of adults and children sitting in a hall with blankets and sleeping bags. Belta also published photos of migrants trying to protect themselves from the cold as they sit around a campfire in the tent camp.
Lukashenko has previously ordered that the warehouse, located near the border town of Grodno, be converted into a migrant camp.
(©NTB/TV 2)
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