CNN reports:

Migrants trapped on the border between Poland and Belarus have made hundreds of attempts to breach the frontier, but were repelled by 15,000 Polish soldiers deployed to stop them, according to Polish authorities.

The thousands of stranded people are caught at the center of an intensifying geopolitical dispute in which the European Union, the United States and NATO have accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of manufacturing a migrant crisis on the EU’s eastern frontier to destabilize the bloc as retribution for sanctions over human rights abuses. His government denies the claims, and instead blames the West for dangerous, sometimes fatal, border crossings and poor treatment of migrants.

The Polish border guard said it had recorded 468 crossing attempts by migrants Wednesday, and nearly 600 the day before, including some “large-scale” efforts with groups of more than 100 people trying to breach the fence. Polish authorities have detained small numbers of people and immediately sent others back to Belarus.

A Polish border guard representative told CNN earlier this week that some of the migrants had been pushed toward the barriers by Belarusian services.

Large numbers of people are now camped out on the Belarusian side of the Kuznica border crossing, which authorities closed on Tuesday, in dire conditions. [Continue reading…]

The Guardian reports:

Alexander Lukashenko has threatened to cut deliveries of gas to Europe via a major pipeline as the Belarusian leader promised to retaliate against any new EU sanctions imposed in response to the crisis at the Poland-Belarus border.

Backed by the Kremlin, Lukashenko has struck a defiant note after inciting a migrant crisis at the border, where thousands of people, mainly from Middle Eastern countries, are camped out as temperatures plunge below freezing.

Meanwhile thousands marched through the streets of Warsaw to mark Poland’s Independence Day, including far-right groups calling for the government to prevent migrants from entering the country illegally. The city government had banned the march but those orders were overturned by the national government, which is dominated by the conservative Law and Justice party.

Polish authorities have taken a hardline stance on the crisis, instituting a state of emergency in the border region that allows police to ignore asylum requests and summarily expel migrants. It also prevents NGOs and journalists from entering the border zone. [Continue reading…]