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Added on the 26/01/2022 09:18:07 - Copyright : Euronews EN
Poland starts the construction of a temporary fence along its 210-kilometre long land border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced the decision amid concerns in Warsaw that Russia plans to orchestrate an influx of migrants. "The airport in Kaliningrad is now accepting flights from the Middle East and North Africa. I decided to take action to enhance the security of the Polish border," Blaszczak told reporters. IMAGES
European Council President Charles Michel addresses the debate on EU funding for border fences to prevent migrant arrivals, which Poland and other EU countries are calling for but which the Commission is refusing. While Belarus is accused of orchestrating an influx of migrants, blocked at the border with Poland by the country's law enforcement agencies behind barbed wire, Charles Michel says such financing is "legally possible" and actively being discussed. SOUNDBITE
Slovenia starts to remove the wire fence on its border with Croatia. The EU country's Prime Minister Robert Golob said the initiative had failed to serve its purpose. During Europe's 2015-2016 migrant crisis, during which over half a million migrants crossed Slovenia heading for Italy or Austria, Slovenia erected some 200 kilometres (124 miles) of wire and panel fence covering almost a third of its border with Croatia. IMAGES
The UK Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, announces at a joint presser with Polish counterpart that the UK will send a "bilateral deployment" of "350 British troops to Poland" in order to send a "strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side". SOUNDBITE
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visits a centre for the hundreds of migrants that remain in Belarus after attempting to cross into the EU via the Polish border. Thousands of migrants -- mainly Iraqi Kurds -- have spent months trying to get into the European Union from Belarus. The crisis escalated earlier this month with around 2,000 setting up a makeshift camp on the border in freezing conditions. IMAGES
A Yemeni migrant who died in Poland in September is laid to rest in the eastern village of Bohoniki, close to the border with Belarus. IMAGES