BIALOWIEZA, Poland (Reuters) – A dozen people huddled near a razor-tipped fence along the Belarus border, surrounded by lush forests. They waited for a chance to scale it or push aside its slats to head west into Poland.
Armed Polish border guards and soldiers patrolled back and forth on the other side. They kept a close eye on the group, mostly young men from the Middle East, some marked with cuts from the sharp wire.
Migration tensions peak in Europe as far-right parties advocating tougher controls clash with centrist movements during Polish elections.
Poland and the European Union accuse Belarus and Russia of fostering chaos by pushing migrants over the frontier since 2021. Minsk and Moscow deny the accusations.
Recently, the numbers of arrivals have been increasing, as per Polish government data. Tragically, a soldier patrolling the border died this week after a confrontation with migrants on May 28.
In response, the centrist, pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to re-introduce a no-go zone along the frontier.
“This border is not safe, unfortunately. The purpose of this zone is to ensure that no one is exposed to the type of attack that Polish soldiers are exposed to,” deputy defence minister Paweł Zalewski told Reuters.
Efforts to resolve the Poland-Belarus border tensions have so far yielded little progress, with both countries remaining at odds over the handling of the migrant crisis.
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