German police have stopped more than 50 far-right vigilantes from patrolling the country's border with Poland to stop illegal immigran...
German police have stopped more than 50 far-right vigilantes from patrolling the country's border with Poland to stop illegal immigrants.
The vigilantes were following a call by the Third Way, a far-right party with suspected links to neo-Nazi groups, for its members to stop illegal crossings near the town of Guben on the German-Polish border.
Police seized weapons including pepper spray, batons, a bayonet and a machete from the thugs and made them leave the town late on Saturday and in the early hours of Sunday.
More than 50 far-right vigilantes hunting illegal immigrants while armed with pepper spray, a bayonet, a machete and batons had their weapons seized and were sent home by police
Many EU states accuse Belarus of sending illegal migrants across the border into the EU to put pressure on the bloc. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus after the disputed re-election of its President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020
Some of the group had travelled to the area from other parts of Germany.
Dozens of people held a vigil in Guben over the weekend to show their opposition to the planned far-right patrols.
Germany's interior minister Horst Seehofer, 72, said an extra 800 police officers were on the Polish border to control the flow of migrants trying to enter the European Union from Belarus.
'Hundreds of officers are currently on duty there day and night,' he told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
'If necessary, I am prepared to reinforce them even further.'
Mr Seehofer said there had already been 6,162 unauthorised entries into Germany from Belarus and Poland this year.
Dozens of people held a vigil in Guben over the weekend to show their opposition to the planned far-right patrols
A protester holds a placard reading 'asylum is a human right' at a vigil against the vigilantes
German police watched over the peaceful vigil. Germany's interior minister Horst Seehofer, 72, said an extra 800 police officers were on the Polish border to control the flow of migrants trying to enter the European Union from Belarus
He previously said Germany did not intend to close the border with Poland but on Sunday he said the country might have to consider a U-turn on that.
He said: 'If the situation on the German-Polish border does not ease, we will also have to consider whether this step needs to be taken in coordination with Poland and the state of Brandenburg.'
Many EU states accuse Belarus of sending illegal migrants across the border into the EU to put pressure on the bloc.
The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus after the disputed re-election of its President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020.
Mr Lukashenko denies this and has blamed the West for what he says is a looming humanitarian catastrophe this winter after migrants were left stranded on the Belarusian-Polish border.
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