Alexander Lukashenko

Growing number of migrants wants to enter the EU along that route.
After a few months ago, in response to Brussels' sanctions, Belarusian President Lukashenko allowed migrants from the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, to enter the country unhindered, the situation on the Polish border is becoming a new crisis hotspot.

"We are based on other values - we have our acquis, our regulations and we are complying with human rights," Johansson said. "And I raised the issue and importance of transparency to make sure that, when we protect our borders, we also protect our values and the EU acquis."

A view of an information board regarding the state of emergency near the border with Belarus in Zubrzyca Wielka, northeastern Poland, 03 September 2021. EPA-EFE/Artur Reszko

One of them was an Iraqi man, found on Sunday by Polish border guards near the village of Dworczysko, together with two others, all suffering from hypothermia. The two still alive are recovering in hospital.

However, it comes in the context of an already tense situation on Belarus' borders with Poland and the Baltics, after weeks during which Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime has been pushing migrants, primarily from the Middle East and Afghanistan, into the EU, partly in retaliation for sanctions Brussels imposed on it for a rigged presidential election in 2020 and a subsequent violent crackdown on de

Lithuanian border guards stopped more than 2,000 illegal Asian and African migrants coming from Belarus over the month of tough measures in force in the Baltic nation to prevent breaches of its territory,

"Over the past month since the government decided on an enhanced border protection policy, over 2,000 illegal migrants have been pushed back to Belarus," the statement says.

At the request of the government, Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday declared a state of emergency on the Belarus border for 30 days which limits the access of unauthorised people to a three-kilometre-wide stretch of land along the border in two eastern counties.

Stoltenberg assessed that the crisis is a new hybrid attack of Belarus and that NATO will react because of that.

A member of the Polish Border Guard is seen exiting his vehicle near the border with Belarus on 14 August, 2021 in Zubrzyca Wielka, Poland. Photo: Jaap Arriens

According to the statement dated August 18, the Interior Ministry said 2,100 people had "attempted to illegally enter Poland" via the border with Belarus so far this month.

Now, here on the Polish side of the border, they had no water and their phones had been broken - by the Belarusians, they claimed. And they were adamant that they do not want to go back to Belarus: all three had fresh bandages and Mohammed's head was bleeding.

With Poland, which already hosts a growing number of Belarusian exiles, immediately offering the 24-year-old sprinter a humanitarian visa, Timanovskaya took refuge in the Polish embassy in Tokyo until a flight to Warsaw could be arranged. Contrary to expectations, she didn't fly directly to Warsaw, but took a detour to the Austrian capital Vienna instead.