Poland has begun limited admission of the media to the restricted area at the border with Belarus, Government Spokesman Piotr Muller told journalists on Friday
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2021) Poland has begun limited admission of the media to the restricted area at the border with Belarus, Government Spokesman Piotr Muller told journalists on Friday.
"Today first journalists will receive access to the border zone," Muller said.
The press center for correspondents covering the situation has opened in Podlaskie Voivodship, which is located close to the Poland-Belarus border.
To access the territory adjacent to the border, journalists are obliged to receive a single-entry accreditation of the Polish Border Guard, which means that journalists will only be allowed to the border in groups and under its supervision.
The duration and route of the visits are defined by the Border Guard as well, though adjustments can be made for security purposes. Directly before their visit to the border, journalists are required to undergo special training.
Journalists could not access the border zone since the beginning of September. Until December 2, a state of emergency had been in effect, so only local residents and holders of special permits could enter the zone. Shortly after the end of the state of emergency, Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration Mariusz Kaminski banned entry to the area adjacent to the Belarus border for three months until March 2022. This decision caused widespread condemnation amid the worsening humanitarian situation at the border. One critic was EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, who expressed concern over a lack of transparency on the Polish border with Belarus.
The migration crisis at the EU border with Belarus has dragged on for several months now as thousands of migrants continue to make their way there attempting to enter the EU. Poland has enhanced its border control measures, mobilized military forces, and begun construction of a border fence. Polish authorities accuse Belarus of manufacturing the crisis, while Minks repeatedly denies this allegation, stressing that Poland is blowing the situation out of proportion.
