Dozens of migrants have been detained after crossing into Poland from Belarus, Warsaw said on Sunday, warning of a possible larger breakthrough ahead of an EU meeting to widen sanctions on Belarus.
Police said on Twitter that 50 migrants had crossed the heavily guarded EU and NATO border near the village of Starzyna "by force" on Saturday.
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They were all later detained, the border guard said, adding that they could see signs across the barbed wire on the Belarusian side of "a bigger attempt at crossing the border today".
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East are camped out on the EU-Belarus border , creating a stand-off between the EU and US on one side and Belarus and its ally Russia on the other.
Western countries accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's regime of engineering the crisis by encouraging migrants to come to Belarus and then taking them to the border.
Belarus denies the charges and blames the West.
"If someone thinks that Lukashenko or Belarusians will flinch, then this will not happen,"Mr. Lukashenko, referring to himself in the third person, said in an interview with a Russian defence journal released on Saturday.
Aid agencies say at least 10 migrants have died so far and have warned of a humanitarian crisis unfolding as temperatures drop below freezing, urging a de-escalation to help the migrants.
In the biggest camp, near the village of Bruzgi in Belarus, Belarusian authorities say there are 2,000 people, including pregnant women and children.
Belarusian authorities have delivered aid including tents and heaters -- a move that could make the camp a semi-permanent presence on the EU's eastern border.
Poland has refused to allow the migrants in and has accused Belarus of preventing them from leaving.
EU foreign ministers are also due to meet on Monday to widen the sanctions already imposed on Belarus for its crackdown on opponents of Mr. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for nearly 30 years.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said ministers would allow sanctions on anyone "taking part in the trafficking of migrants" in Belarus, including airlines, travel agencies and officials.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said one of the measures being envisaged was the "complete closure of the border to cut off the regime from any economic benefits".
One of the routes taken by the migrants has been through Turkey, which has flights to Belarus.
