Poland’s Belarusian border conflict is becoming violent

The EU’s conflict with Belarus is heating up. The simmering migrant crisis on the Polish border with Belarus exploded into a new level of intensity on Monday, as large groups of migrants marched through Belarus towards Poland before attempting to storm barbed wire fences and force their way into the Schengen zone.

The Polish government responded to the violation of its border with military force. Twelve thousand troops are now being deployed along the border. When migrants managed to break a section of the fence near Kuznica on Monday, a rank of Polish soldiers filled the gap as a military helicopter flew low overhead in an attempt to deter the febrile group, which was chanting ‘Germany!’ It’s thought that around 7,000 of the migrants who recently entered Poland subsequently tried to make it to Germany. Another 14,000 migrants are thought to be in Belarus hoping to make the crossing.

Yet in stopping the migrants’ desperate attempts to reach Europe, Poland has yet to engage with the force responsible for bringing them to the Schengen zone in the first place.