Poland: Less number of attempts by refugees to cross Belarus border
Although the number of border crossings is on a steady decline, Warsaw has warned that the refugee crisis was far from over.
There were 195 attempts to cross the frontier on Friday, down from 250 on Thursday and 501 the day before, the Polish Border Guard said.
The number of refugees trying to force their way into Poland from Belarus fell again on Friday after an apparent change in tack by Minsk that could help calm a crisis that has mushroomed into a major East-West confrontation.
The Polish Border Guard said on Saturday that there were 195 attempts to cross the frontier on Friday, down from 250 on Thursday and 501 the day before.
Warsaw, however, warned that the refugee crisis was far from over.
"Yesterday ... there were several attempts to forcefully cross the border. The largest group consisted of about 200 foreigners, the others of 10s of people. The foreigners were aggressive - they threw stones, firecrackers and used teargas," the Border Guard said on Twitter.
Polish police said that during one crossing attempt on Friday near the village of Starzyna, Belarusian servicemen threw stones towards Polish border guards, policemen and soldiers, resulting in police cars being damaged.
Despite the fall in the number of attempts to cross the border, Polish officials said they expected further tensions.
"No, this political crisis is not coming to an end. Belarus is still interested in escalating and continuing operations against Poland," Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for Poland's security services, wrote on Twitter.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will visit Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Sunday to discuss the crisis, a government spokesman said on Saturday.
READ MORE: Explained: Migrant crisis on Poland-Belarus border
EU-Belarus tensions
Europe accuses Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East and pushing them to cross into the EU.
The bloc has been at odds with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko since a disputed election last year.
Belarus, which denies fomenting the crisis, cleared a refugee camp near the border on Thursday.
It started to repatriate some people to Iraq but Poland said on Friday that Minsk was still trucking hundreds of refugees to the frontier.
READ MORE: Who are the Iraqis at the center of the EU-Belarus refugee dispute?
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