Clashes on the Polish-Belarus border between desperate migrants, egged on by Belarus troops, and Polish border guards have escalated to what is being described as "hybrid warfare" on the part of the Minsk regime. Thousands of migrants believed to be from the Middle East have set up camp in the cold, damp birch forests that mark the frontier, and 1,000 of them confronted Polish police on the border on Monday. Nine people are reported to have died so far trying to make their way across, and Polish border guards claim there have been more than 30,000 illegal attempts to cross the border since August, including 17,300 last month. Lithuania is facing similar challenges and has declared a state of emergency on the border.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is accused by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of "instrumentalising refugees" as a weapon in retaliation for EU support of the opposition in the wake of the brutal crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators last year. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman has described the Belarus regime as "acting as a human trafficker". There are reports Minsk has facilitated flights and visas from the Middle East, promising migrants help to cross into the EU.
EU ministers yesterday tightened visa controls on Belarus officials and heard calls to step up sanctions against it, including targeting Belarus airlines like Belavia which leases much of its fleet in Ireland. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said Dublin was open to supporting new sanctions. But, he added, "We would also make the distinction between sanctions that would involve no further or future aircraft leasing to Belavia, in contrast to existing contracts that are in place where there are obligations."
Belarus's deliberate incitement of mass border crossings must be seen for what it is – a serious attack on the common external border of the EU
Poland, which has sent some 12,000 troops to the border, has declined offers from the commission for help from the EU's border agency Frontex, and has been backed in its tough response by countries such as Germany and the Netherlands which have in the past clashed with Warsaw over the latter's deep hostility to accepting migrants or EU collective action on asylum and migration. One German minister has spoken of Berlin's willingness to send police to assist the Poles.
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Within Poland, although there is broad support for the government’s tough stance, there has been some human rights criticism of the pushback over the border of refugees without the right to make claims for asylum. Left-wing MPs have called on the government to open the door to some refugees on humanitarian grounds.
Nevertheless, Belarus’s deliberate incitement of mass border crossings must be seen for what it is – a serious attack on the common external border of the EU. Poland has a right to expect the support, material and political, of its fellow member states in defending its territory.