Poland border crisis: EU to widen Belarus sanctions as row intensifies

INA - SOURCES

The European Union is to step up sanctions against Belarus in response to an escalating migrant crisis on the border with Poland.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed the move, saying that vulnerable migrants were being exploited in a "hybrid war" that is "intensifying".

Belarus is accused of pushing migrants towards its eastern borders to undermine security, a charge it denies.

On Monday, hundreds of migrants were blocked at a crossing by Polish troops. Migrants sitting down on a road in front of barbed wire and Polish forces in a tense stand-off.

Those migrants came from a large makeshift camp at the Kuznica crossing, where thousands have settled in tents just inside Belarus.

They are trapped between Polish guards on one side and Belarusian guards on the other. The migrants cannot get into Poland, but are also being prevent from retreating back into Belarus, according to Polish authorities.

The Polish border guard said it expected a forced attempt to breach the border, describing the presence of the Belarusian forces in the area as "worrying".

Since August thousands of men, women and children have amassed at Belarus's western border with Poland. They are mostly from Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and are now enduring freezing conditions in the hope of crossing into the EU.

The EU has accused Belarus of mounting a "hybrid attack" by encouraging thousands of people to cross into Poland and other members states.
Human rights groups have said the migrants are being used as "political pawns".