Lithuania Reportedly Pulling Troops to Border With Poland, Belarus Due to Influx of Migrants - Video
12:32 GMT 08.11.2021 (Updated: 13:18 GMT 08.11.2021)
© AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Lithuania is pulling troops to the border with Poland and Belarus due to the influx of migrants, the authorities will discuss later on Monday the possibility to declare a state of emergency at the border, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite made the relevant announcements.
Earlier in the day, the European Commission spokesman for migration Adalbert Jahnz said that they are monitoring the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the Europol and the European Asylum Support Office are ready to provide assistance amid the influx of migrants.
"The best way to manage a shared border is with shared resources and in this respect Frontex, the European Asylum Office and Europol are ready to assist with border management registration fight against smuggling as they have done in many places including Lithuania and Latvia," Jahnz said at a briefing.
People at Belarusian-Polish Border Want to Apply for Refugee Status in EU, Minsk Says
A large group of people that gathered at the Belarusian-Polish border wants to enter the European Union and apply for refugee status, a spokesman for the Belarusian state border committee, Anton Bychkovsky, said on Monday.
"Foreigners who are near the border with Poland declare their intention to enter the territory of a neighbouring country and exercise their right to apply for refugee status in the EU," Bychkovsky said.
"Foreigners who are near the border with Poland declare their intention to enter the territory of a neighbouring country and exercise their right to apply for refugee status in the EU," Bychkovsky said.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian security forces are sending a large group of migrants not to a checkpoint but to a forest at the border, a spokesperson of the Polish Border Committee said.
"According to our estimates, several thousand people are heading towards the Polish border. At the same time, the latest reports that we receive indicate that Belarusian services are redirecting them not to the border crossing in Kuznica, but towards forests and green areas on the border," the committee said.
"According to our estimates, several thousand people are heading towards the Polish border. At the same time, the latest reports that we receive indicate that Belarusian services are redirecting them not to the border crossing in Kuznica, but towards forests and green areas on the border," the committee said.
Videos from the Polish side of the border were shared by Sputnik Belarus on Telegram.
Another video shared by the Belta news agency shows an attempt made by some of the migrants to push through barbed wire to the Polish side of the border guarded by security forces.
This footage shows the attempted breach from the Polish side.
Polish forces have managed to successfully repel the first wave of illegal migrants attempting to breach the Polish border.
— Visegrad 24 🇨🇿🇭🇺🇵🇱🇸🇰 (@visegrad24) November 8, 2021
The situation is currently under control according to the Polish Ministry of Interior.
🇵🇱pic.twitter.com/PzNm9HH2zT
A video also emerged, showing migrants trying to cut the barbed wire while Polish border guards were using pepper spray to disperse them.
Last month, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland accused Belarus of orchestrating a migrant crisis to get back at Brussels for sanctions against the government of Alexander Lukashenko. The Belorussian president, however, denied the accusations, saying that his cash-strapped country can no longer afford tight border controls.
