Polish forces have used tear gas and water cannon against migrants trying to cross into the country from Belarus.
Some of the migrants at the border threw stones at the Polish forces, the defence ministry says.
For weeks thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been gathering at the Belarus border in an attempt to reach the European Union.
Belarus has been accused of pushing migrants to the border in an attempt to destabilise the EU, a charge it denies.
EU-Belarus relations have been severely strained since long-term leader Alexander Lukashenko declared victory in a discredited presidential election last year and tried to silence dissent by cracking down on mass protests and arresting political opponents.
The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus in the wake of the poll and, along with the US, will step them up following the border crisis.
Poland’s defence ministry said its forces responded to migrants attacking a border fence at Kuznica.
“The migrants attacked our soldiers and officers with stones and are trying to destroy the fence and get to Poland. Our services used tear gas to quell the migrants’ aggression,” the ministry tweeted.
Polish police said Belarusian forces stood by while this happened and accused them of supplying migrants with stun grenades.
A BBC reporter at the scene described his eyes stinging from the use of tear gas, adding that the migrants had been unable to breach the border.
Polish water cannon are being deployed because, here on the Belarusian side of the border, migrants started throwing rocks, bricks and branches towards the Polish forces.It’s a scene of chaos which is continuing. It feels very much like a pre-planned provocation. It seems as if a decision has been taken on this side of the border to try and exact a response from Poland, and from the EU.This image is very much what Alexander Lukashenko wants to transmit to the world. Belarus has been trying to portray Europe as uncaring and uncompassionate, inhuman even. And certainly Belarus will use this to portray that image of Europe to the world.
The apparent escalation at the border came just as there were signs of de-escalation.
Mr Lukashenko spoke to Germany’s Angela Merkel on the phone on Monday, his first since cracking down on protesters after the election.
He told a government meeting that “we cannot let this so-called problem lead to heated confrontation,” state news agency Belta reported. Belta said Mr Lukashenko and Mrs Merkel agreed on further contacts to resolve the situation.
The migrants, including children, have been living in makeshift camps in freezing conditions just inside Belarus.
BBC
