Hundreds of migrants have again tried to cross the border from Belarus into Poland, Warsaw said Friday, despite signs of the crisis easing after migrants left a makeshift encampment.
Polish border guards said there were attempted crossings by two groups on what is the eastern border of the European Union and NATO -- one involving 500 migrants, some of whom threw rocks and tear gas canisters.Belarusian state news agency Belta said 2,000 migrants who had been camped out in freezing conditions on the border spent the night in a nearby warehouse after clearing out of their camp.
The West accuses Belarus of artificially creating a crisis by bringing in would-be migrants and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the EU.On Friday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with the allies stressing"the importance of the establishment of cooperation between Minsk and the EU to resolve the problem," according to the Kremlin.
Meanwhile hundreds of Iraqis who had failed to cross into the EU from Belarus returned home on Thursday on the first repatriation flight organised by Baghdad."There are still attempts by migrants to cross the border illegally," said Marek Pietrzak, spokesman of Poland's Territorial Defence Force, which has soldiers on the border.
On Friday, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted that Warsaw was"happy to accept Estonia's proposal" to send 100 troops to the border to help counter the crisis.The EU and US this week announced fresh sanctions on the Belarusian regime, which has crushed political opposition and independent media since a disputed presidential election last year.
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