Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are considering triggering NATO Article 4 on the crisis unfolding across their borders with Belarus, as thousands of people trapped in freezing conditions continue to try to cross into Europe.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the Polish Press Agency on Sunday that the three countries are in debate over the possibility of triggering the article, which calls for consultation on the “territorial integrity, political independence or security of either party is threatened”.
A NATO official said last week that the military alliance was monitoring the escalation of the situation and that “NATO allies express full solidarity with Poland and other allies affected by the instrumentalization of Belarusian migrants.”
The official said Belarus “has responsibility for the crisis and the Lukashenko regime’s use of migrants as a hybrid tactic is inhumane, illegal and unacceptable.”
This Monday (15th) Polish border guards used loudspeakers to alert people at the Kuźnica-Bruzgi intersection about the possibility of using force and force if orders are not carried out.
Authorities also deployed a helicopter and a water cannon in the area, although the cannon was not used. A convoy of police vehicles was seen approaching the border.
Thousands of people have tried to cross into Poland in recent days, sitting on the ground near the border despite near-freezing temperatures.
Katarzyna Zdanowicz, spokeswoman for the Polish Border Guard, told CNN on Monday morning about 4,000 people were camped along the border and that the situation was “very tense and dangerous”.
Zdanowicz also reported that there were “mass forced attempts to cross the border” in the Kuznica area by a group of 60 people on Sunday night.
Those who tried to cross behaved “aggressively”, according to the border guard service. They threw rocks and branches at the Polish border police, she said, adding that guns were being “pointed at our soldiers” and a “flare gun” was fired at them.
More people searched the area on Monday. a team from CNN witnessed thousands of people in the Bruzgi migrant camp in Belarus picking up their bags and starting to move towards the Polish border in the morning.
A rumor began to circulate in the countryside that the Polish government could open the border and allow a humanitarian corridor to Germany.
Poland vehemently denied it and people crowding the area received text messages from Polish authorities claiming the information was a “meaning lie”.
The SMS message, also received by team members from CNN in the area, he says in part: “Poland will not allow migrants to move to Germany. It will protect your border. Don’t be fooled, don’t try any action.”
Belarus’ State Border Committee said people moving towards the border have “purely peaceful intentions,” according to state media BelTA.
“Refugees gathered warm clothes, tents, sleeping bags, hoping for a positive outcome to the situation.
At midday they organized themselves into a large column and started moving towards the Bruzgi checkpoint,” said Anton Bychkovsky, the official representative of the border committee.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also said that, in the meantime, the European Union will extend sanctions against Belarus. The announcement was made before a meeting in Brussels.
“Today we are going to approve a new package of sanctions against the Belarusian people responsible for what is happening (…) and we are going to launch a framework to implement other sanctions on other people, airlines, travel agencies and all those involved in this illegal process of migrants in our borders,” he said.
Translated text. Read the original in English here.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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