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Number of attempts to cross border declining — Polish border guard

According to Polish Border Guard Spokeswoman Anna Michalska, 685 attempts to illegally cross the border were made on October 14 and only 17 attempts were made on November 14

WARSAW, November 15. /TASS/. The number of attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border by migrants has been decreasing, however, attempts to storm the border are being witnessed, Border Guard Spokeswoman Anna Michalska reported on Monday.

"Day by day, the number of attempts to illegally cross the border has been on the decrease. A month ago - October 14 - 685 attempts were made. Yesterday it was 17," she said.

"This indicates that Polish services operate successfully. Migrants are less willing to cross the border," Michalska added admitting that there are "attempts to storm the border." As the spokeswoman explained, "tactics have changed" with fewer individual attempts to cross the border. According to her, Polish law enforcement officers constantly hear gunshots from the Belarusian side of the border. "We constantly hear gunshots from a distance," she said and stressed that the sounds of shooting or reloading weapons are heard.

Michalska noted that currently 1,828 people were at detention centers for illegal migrants. "We have detained 2,500 foreigners this year. We are dealing with the Polish-Belarusian border. Last year there were 88 such persons," she informed.

Over the current year, Polish border guards have foiled more than 33,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is 370 times more than last year. On November 8, the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border dramatically unraveled, when several thousand migrants amassed along the Polish border. Occasionally, large groups of them tried to tear down the barbed wire fence and break through into Poland.