CROSSING THE LINE

At Least 50 Migrants Cross Into Poland as Crisis on Belarus Border Deepens

Migrants have been pushed back with tear gas, and one Polish soldier was accidentally shot as the European migration crisis shows no sign of abating.

Tensions continue to rise along the border between Belarus and Poland after 50 migrants broke through a heavily fortified razor-wire fence and made their way into the European Union. Thousands of mostly Middle Eastern migrants—many with young children—have massed on the Belarus side of the border, many with visas granted by Belarus. The E.U. has accused Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko of using the migrants to “attack” Europe after the bloc applied sanctions against the increasingly rogue nation for ordering the diversion of a Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident journalist. Poland has deployed around 15,000 security forces to secure its border and one officer was accidentally shot and killed over the weekend. Media on the ground report tear gas being used on both sides of the border as the situation spirals out of control.