The first immigrants passed through Poland
Dozens of people crossed from Belarus to Poland on Tuesday night as the EU blamed Minsk and prepared for sanctions.
Two large groups of migrants crossed the border into Belarus and entered the territory of Poland , the Polish news agency PAP reported late at night.
Dozens of migrants managed to drop parts of the fence in the villages of Krinki and Bialoveza, the agency explained, citing a report by local radio station Bialystok.
The radio station quoted a representative of the Polish border guard as saying that several migrants were taken back to Belarus, but others were able to escape.
On the Belarusian side of the border there are hundreds of people hoping to arrive in a European Union country and seek asylum, mainly in Germany.
Poland has refused to allow them to enter its territory and has deployed hundreds of police officers at the border in recent weeks. It has also erected barbed wire fences to prevent crossings.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday called on Warsaw to allow them to cross, explaining that their destination is other countries.
The European Union (EU) has accused Mr Lukashenko of creating a crisis by issuing visas to immigrants and then sending them to Europe in retaliation for European sanctions imposed on his government by Brussels over its crackdown on dissent by Belarussian opposition. 2020.
The EU is preparing to impose new sanctions on the government in Minsk, on the Belarusian public airline Belavia and on third countries and airlines it deems involved.
Maas: "Sanctions in Lukashenko and Minsk"
Germany is in favor of imposing new European Union sanctions on Belarus, German Foreign Minister Haiko Maas said on Wednesday, accusing Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko of "ruthlessly exploiting" thousands of immigrants.
"We will impose sanctions on all those involved in targeted migrant trafficking," Maas said in a press release issued by his services, warning that the EU was working to "extend and strengthen (...) sanctions against him." Lukashenko 's regime . "
"Lukashenko must realize that his calculations will have no effect," he added.
Thousands of desperate migrants are trapped in the midst of increasingly bad weather and polar cold on Belarus' border with Poland. Warsaw argues that Belarus and Russia are using migrants to destabilize European security.
For months, Europeans have accused Alexander Lukashenko of creating a crisis by issuing visas to immigrants and then sending them to Europe in an attempt to avenge the European sanctions imposed on his government by Brussels over the suppression of the 2020 pro-Russian.
Describing the situation on the Belarusian border as "horrible", Mr Maas accused Mr Lukashenko of causing a "dangerous" situation from which "there is no way out for him".
He also assured that Brussels intends to take action against countries and airlines involved in the transfer of migrants to Belarus.
"No one should be allowed to take part in Lukashenko's inhumane acts with impunity," he said, warning that "we, as the EU, are ready to guarantee that there will be consequences."
For his part, President Lukashenko, an ally of Moscow, has stressed that his country "will not kneel" in front of the EU.
