Polish-Belarus border enters a ‘dark zone’

After Latvia and Lithuania, Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday (2 September) authorised the introduction of the state of emergency along the Polish-Belarusian border. The motion is expected to be approved by the lower house parliament on Monday.

At the border next to Usnarz Dolny there are still more than 30 migrants from Afghanistan trapped between the brutal regime of Belarus, which uses migrants in its hybrid war. The Lithuanian border guards released a new video showing how Belarusian border guards were pushing Iraqi migrants out of Belarus into Lithuania.

Polish presidential spokesman Blazej Spychalski said the situation on the border was “difficult and dangerous” and “as Poland, being responsible for our own borders, but also for the borders of the EU, [we] must take measures to ensure the security of Poland and the [EU],” he said.

However, Poland’s state of emergency will also ban the movement of people within three kilometres of the border.

“What we are afraid of most is that the guards will ask us to leave, which will be a tragedy, as we will lose contact with the individuals who remain at the border”, said Kalina Czwarnóg of the Foundation Ocalenie [Salvation], whose organisation has been assisting the migrants since the start of the crisis three weeks ago.

“Nobody will be able to monitor if there was violence, what is the health situation, if they receive food. This is what we worry most about because we are here only because of them,” she added.

Once the state of emergency is in place, such organisations will have to leave the area.

MEP Krzysztof Hetman of the Polish People’s Party (EPP) told EURACTIV that he was suspicious about the state of emergency.

“The introduction of the state of emergency is controversial as the intentions of the Polish government are unclear. For over a year we have witnessed the largest pandemic in 100 years. In this situation where all the conditions to introduce a state of emergency were met, the same rulers have never done so,” he said.

Hetman is particularly worried about the local population. “The citizens of those areas, especially the local businesses, are already indicating the losses they may face due to the new situation arising,” he added.

Meanwhile, Poland and Latvia expressed concern on Thursday over Russia’s looming military drills held jointly on Belarus’ western border.

(Piotr Maciej Kaczyński | EURACTIV.pl)