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Poland says illegal migrants bracing to storm border from Belarus

Since the beginning of the year, over 30,000 migrants have tried to cross the Polish-Belarusian border

WARSAW, November 8. /TASS/. Polish authorities have uncovered plans by illegal migrants for a massive assault on the Polish-Belarusian border, spokesman for the minister who coordinates Poland's intelligence agencies Stanislaw Zaryn said on Monday.

"Very alarming information from the border [has been received]. In Belarus, not far from the border with Poland, a large group of migrants has amassed. They have just begun to advance towards the Polish border. They will attempt to massively get into Poland," he wrote on Twitter. According to him, the group mostly consists of young men. "The largest-scale attempt at a forceful incursion into Poland has begun," he added.

Since the beginning of 2021, over 30,000 migrants have tried to cross the Polish-Belarusian border. Warsaw declared a state of emergency in the regions bordering Belarus and has been systematically beefing up the number of servicemen stationed there (currently it is at 10,000). At the same time, the Polish authorities have been building a barbed-wire fence on the border and later plans are in store to transform it into a more secure fence measuring five meters in height, equipped with sensors and other necessary equipment.

Polish officials are pinning the blame for the border unrest on the Belarusian leadership. According to Warsaw, Minsk has been bringing migrants to Belarus and subsequently shipping them across the border with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in order to stir up a migration crisis in Europe. Poland’s border service has been reporting regular provocations in those areas and the attempts to break through the border by large groups of people.