Aleksandr Lukashenko

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

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.

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.

The parents of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his fellow NEXTA founder Stsiapan Putsila appealed to Western governments at a press conference organised at the Belarusian House in Warsaw to step up efforts to save the life of the imprisoned 26-year-old.

Serbia will buy four S-300 air defense missile systems and six MiG-29 warplanes from Belarus, the Belgrade-based tabloid Alo has reported.

Tanjug cited the report on Sunday to say that the contract will be signed by presidents of Serbia and Belarus Aleksandar Vucic and Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Tanjug cited the report on Sunday to say that the contract will be signed by presidents of Serbia and Belarus Aleksandar Vucic and Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The daily further said, citing an unnamed source, that the two sides have already agreed on the acquisition and will ink the deal in March.

Belarus stands ready to put in "maximum effort" to help wind down tensions between Russia and Turkey, but cannot impose mediation on either side, PM Vladimir Makei has said.

EU foreign ministers have agreed on a provisional commitment to a four-month lifting of sanctions imposed on Belarus.