Poland focuses on border security at start of EU presidency

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that protecting borders is a ‘sacred duty’, but humanitarian organisations have expressed concerns.

Watched by drones and guarded by a five-and-a-half-metre steel barrier, a border crossing near the Polish town of Połowce encapsulates the security challenges facing the EU, Poland has said.

On the other side of the fence lies Belarus, a close ally of Russia which has used migration as a weapon against the bloc, according to Warsaw.

As a result, Poland has recently toughened its migration policies, something the country says is vital to its and the EU’s interests.

“We have tightened our visa policy, and above all, we have decided to suspend the right to asylum wherever we are dealing with mass border crossings organised by Belarus and Russia,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.

At the the start of its six-month EU presidency, Poland has positioned itself as a leading voice on improving European security, almost three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

However, NGOs have expressed fears that Warsaw’s policies at the Belarusian border — an area that one organisation has called “Europe’s death zone” — threaten asylum seekers’ safety.

The border

Approximately 13,000 border guards and soldiers patrol the roughly 400-kilometre frontier, which has become a buffer zone since Russia invaded Ukraine through Belarus three years ago.

Similar defensive measures are evident along Poland’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region.

At the border crossing near Połowce, the razor-topped barrier now divides communities that were once closely connected, but that are now estranged by war. The area is constantly watched by drones, helicopters, and armoured vehicles.

The crossing point remains closed, with some 40 border guards and soldiers present at the site on 16 January, during a media tour organised by Poland’s EU presidency.

The road to the border is filled with concrete obstacles and concertina wire designed to repel potential incursions.

Poland says such military presence is necessary to prevent groups of migrants —primarily from Africa and the Middle East — from breaching the border and provoking instability in Poland and Europe.

Migrants framed as a security threat

Nearly 30,000 attempts to cross the border were recorded last year, with many individuals reported to be young men from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.

According to Polish authorities, migrants often enter Belarus on tourist or student visas before being assisted across the border for fees ranging between $8,000 (€7,760) and $12,000 (€11,640).

Officials allege these migrants are aided by Belarusian security services and other “organisers”, many of whom are said to be Ukrainians struggling financially after fleeing the war. According to border officials, they can earn $500 (€485) for each migrant they assist.

Border guards report frequent confrontations, including assaults involving slingshots, small explosives, rocks and pepper spray.

In 2024, a guard was killed and 307 people were hospitalised in the more than 400 incidents that were documented.

“Warning shots don’t work, so force is needed,” said Colonel Andrzej Stasiulewicz, deputy commander of the Podlaski border guard division.

Media representatives were shown footage depicting migrants attacking the border.

Stasiulewicz described their actions as “unpredictable, yet precise and coordinated.”

Doctors Without Borders offers a contrasting narrative, however, reporting that it has treated over 400 individuals since November 2022.

Many patients, the organisation claims, were “stranded for weeks in uninhabitable forests and exposed to violent practices at the border.”

Cases of exhaustion, hypothermia, dehydration, and psychological distress were common, alongside reports of physical abuse, including bruises and dog bites.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Refugee Council, a migrant aid charity reported that nearly 9,000 “violent pushbacks” have been documented since 2021 by NGOs in what it refers to as “Europe’s death zone”.

Officials maintain that asylum applications should be submitted at designated border points, such as Terespol, which is 100 kilometres south of Połowce.

The Polish authorities reject allegations of illegal pushbacks, saying that its “turnbacks” abide by legal requirements.

Legislative proposals and EU endorsement

Poland has seen a marked reduction in arrivals at Połowce, with only 670 asylum applications filed last year.

A proposed law would allow the government to close the border for 60 days if Warsaw believes migration is being “weaponised” by its neighbour.

“If anyone uses violence against the border guards, we close the border,” said Under Secretary of State Maciej Duszczyk.

However, Doctors Without Borders has warned of the potentially “dramatic consequences” of such actions, urging a fundamental shift in Poland’s approach to migrant and refugee protection.

EU leaders have expressed support for Poland’s policies, granting eastern member states latitude to suspend asylum rights in response to perceived threats from Belarus and Russia.

Security and migration remain deeply politicised. Prime Minister Tusk, in power for over a year, faces a critical presidential election in May, with his party’s candidate challenged by a nationalist rival.

The EU’s political landscape has shifted rightward, with nationalist and populist parties gaining traction in key member states, such as France and Germany.

Tusk contends that firm migration policies allow democratic states to address illegal migration effectively, describing it as his “sacred duty.”

“If we do not want to hand over these matters to radicals, extremists, populists, we must find the right answers so that no one in the world doubts that democratic states are able to effectively defend themselves against illegal migration,” Tusk said.