Poland has put up warning signs along its border with Belarus, a day after a state of emergency was called for the area, as tensions between the neighbours rise amid a spat over migration.
Poland put warning notices below the signs at the entrances to towns, according to a tweet by Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski who posted images of the signs on Thursday.
A day earlier Kaminski said a decree would be in place for 30 days affecting a “thin strip” along the border as well as 183 communities, all of which would see civil rights restricted.
That includes a ban on demonstrations. Media and NGO representatives will also be kept out of the zone.
Police set up checkpoints on the access roads to the 3-kilometre strip, according to the Podlaskie Voivodeship administration.
After allegations of vote tampering arose following elections last year that returned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to power, the EU imposed sanctions on the country.
Belarus has responded by allowing migrants to move freely across its borders into EU countries, sparking fears of a refugee influx.
On Thursday alone, Poland’s border guard said 130 people had tried to cross the border illegally, an agency spokesperson said.
Guards stopped 110 people from entering while 20 were arrested.
The Polish public is currently focused on the fate of a group of 32 refugees from Afghanistan who have been stuck near the border town of Usnarz Gorny for nearly three weeks.
