Hundreds of migrants have broken through a Belarusian border fence with Polish guards rushing to stop them in the latest flashpoint on the tense frontier.
Videos taken near the Kuznica border crossing point on Monday showed hundreds of people – the majority of whom appeared to be young men – pushing their way through a broken fence towards a smaller barbed wire barricade where polish border police in riot uniforms confronted them.
More footage showed a Polish helicopter hovering overhead as dozens of soldiers joined police in keeping the migrants back, who appeared to be staging a sit-down protest on the Polish side of the crossing.
It is just the latest en masse attempt at crossing the border by some 4,000 migrants who are gathered there, and comes as EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to sanction dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime over the crisis.
The EU accuses Lukashenko of luring miwgrants to his country on false promises of passage into Europe, before pushing them to the border and forcing them to make illegal crossings. Monday’s sanction are expected to target airlines, travel agencies and individuals that the EU believes is responsible for ferrying the migrants to Belarus.
Lukashenko denies being responsible for the crisis, and vowed a ‘strong response’ to EU measures today. ‘We will defend ourselves’, he told a meeting of high-ranking officials, adding: ‘That’s it. We have nowhere to retreat’
Meanwhile his close ally Russia has accused Britain of bearing responsibility for the migrants, with the country’s foreign ministry lashing out after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss suggested the Kremlin should intervene.
Alexander Lukashenko has vowed a ‘strong response’ to any new EU sanctions, as the bloc prepares to announce new penalties against his regime today
Ms Truss had said the migrant crisis was being ‘carefully crafted’ while urging Russia to ‘press the Belarusian authorities to end the crisis and enter into dialogue.’
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman, subsequently hit out – telling the Daily Telegraph: ‘The British invasion of Iraq was ‘carefully crafted’.
‘Britain bears a clear historical responsibility for everything that has happened in the region since – the deaths of Iraqis, the destruction of Iraqi statehood, the endless flows of refugees, the emergence of Isis, the humanitarian disasters in this part of the world.
‘Until London is held accountable for its crimes, its representatives have no right to point the finger at anyone.’
The EU is expected to announce later today what its new sanctions package will include, but it is expected to target airlines and others accused of transporting migrants to Belarus.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, arriving at the meeting of ministers, told reporters the sanctions might include airlines, travel agents and other people involved in transporting migrants.
Borrell said he had told the Belarusian foreign minister over the weekend that the situation on the border was completely unacceptable and that humanitarian help was needed.
Ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting, Germany’s Heiko Maas said airlines could be told to stop transporting migrants to Minsk or face being banned from landing in Europe, warning: ‘We are nowhere near the end of the sanctions spiral.’
He spoke out after General Sir Nick Carter, head of the British armed forces, warned on Sunday that the UK is facing the prospect of war with Russia if the Belarus crisis spills over into armed conflict.
Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show if he was worried it could quickly escalate into ‘something really serious’, Gen Sir Nick said: ‘I think I am.
‘I think we have to be on our guard and make sure deterrence prevails and critically we have to make sure there is unity in the Nato alliance and we don’t allow any gaps to occur in our collective position.’
After ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele said Russian leaders believe they are ‘at war’ with the UK and its allies, the general told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: ‘In a way I think he’s right.
‘The question, of course, is how you define war and I, as a soldier, would tend to define war as the actual act of combat and fighting, and I don’t think they want that. I think they want to try and achieve their objective in rather more nuanced ways.’
Meanwhile Poland called on NATO to take ‘concrete steps’ to resolve the migrant build-up, and said it was close to activating Clause 4 of the alliance treaty.
Clause 4 would compel member states – the UK among them – to enter into dialogue with other partners who fear their territorial integrity is being threatened.
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki also called for the EU to help fund a border wall, saying: ‘We need concrete steps and the commitment of the entire alliance.’
Up to 4,000 migrants, many from the Middle East, have spent more than a week on the Belarusian side of the border, with Polish authorities reporting attempts to breach the divide daily.
Belarusian soldiers have been accused of breaking holes in Poland’s fence to let them slip through. There were also claims of Minsk arming migrants with tear gas, bright strobes to distract guards and stones and rubble to use as missiles. On Saturday 50 got into Poland near Starzyna village before being detained.
Ahead of the unveiling of more EU sanctions on Belarus today, Poland was braced for another border push.
Interior minister Mariusz Kaminski said a rumour was being spread among migrants that today Poland would let them in and coaches from Germany would pick them up. ‘A provocation is being prepared,’ he said.
The Polish government sent a text to all foreign mobile phones on the border saying: ‘It’s a total lie and nonsense! Poland will continue to protect its border with Belarus.’
Miss Truss wrote in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday of Belarusian president Lukashenko ‘using desperate migrants as pawns’.
But defying Western anger, Mr Lukashenko boasted: ‘If someone thinks that Lukashenko or Belarusians will flinch, then this will not happen.’
In Russia, Mr Putin told journalists he was ready to help resolve the migrant crisis on the border.
Migrants are pictured burning wood to keep warm overnight with the barbed wire fence along the border visible in the background as they try to reach the EU
Migrants are now trapped in a forest between Belarus and Poland (pictured), in freezing conditions with little access to food or water