State of emergency in Eastern Europe: Fence erected VIDEO / PHOTO

State of emergency in Eastern Europe: Fence erected VIDEO / PHOTO

As the Polish president stated in his decision, a state of emergency is being introduced in 183 places located in the three-kilometer belt along the border with Belarus, which many assessed as an unprecedented move in the post-communist history of Poland.

"The situation on the border with Belarus is difficult and dangerous. Poland, as a state responsible for its borders, but also for the borders of the European Union, must take measures to ensure the security of both Polish state and the European Union," Polish presidential spokesman Blazej Spychalski said.

Why was a state of emergency imposed?

According to Polish officials, the state of emergency on the border with Belarus was introduced primarily due to the larger influx of migrants from Arab countries who are trying to reach the countries of the European Union through Belarus.

A spokesman for the Polish president said that in the last few months, thousands of migrants tried to flee Belarus to the countries of the European Union, of which Poland, Lithuania and Latvia were the most affected.

According to the authorities, in August alone, about 3.200 migrants illegally wanted to cross the border between the two countries, and the situation escalated especially after the crisis in Afghanistan, when many citizens fled the country due to the Taliban conquests. In the last few days, a larger influx of migrants from Afghanistan has been recorded on the border between Belarus and Poland, and due to the situation, the Polish government has started erecting a two-meter high fence to facilitate the work of border police in areas where migrants try to cross the border.

Due to the new measures and the introduction of the state of emergency, many migrants remained "stuck" in no-man's land between Belarus and Poland, so currently no country is announcing their status.

Although the crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland is essentially due to the migrant crisis, the latest decisions of the Polish president are related to the political crisis that has lasted for several years between Belarus, on the one hand, and neighboring countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on the other.

Lukashenko's revenge on the European Union

Namely, since the presidential elections in Belarus in 2020, won by Alexander Lukashenko, protests of the Belarusian opposition followed, which were also supported by neighboring countries.

Some Belarusian oppositionists, such as Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, have just reacted from Lithuania because of the ban on entering Belarus. After the situation escalated, the European Union imposed economic and political sanctions on Belarus, which caused some damage to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. However, the President of Belarus found a way to respond to European sanctions, and it was migrants who served him for that. The Belarusian president used the ubiquitous migrant crisis for a kind of war against the European Union. Migrants from Iraq, North Africa, but also Afghanistan who came to Belarus, were regularly escorted to the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, which created big problems for these countries.

"We will not detain anyone. Belarus is not the ultimate refuge for migrants. They are moving towards an enlightened, pleasant and warm Europe," Lukashenko said ironically.

His decision to continue to allow migrants to pass led Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to close their borders with Belarus and declare a state of emergency in the border areas. It was these countries, including Estonia, that signed a joint declaration on August 23, accusing Belarus of a hybrid war with the European Union, in which the regime of Alexander Lukashenko is currently using migrants as a "weapon".

"Since June, we have been facing hybrid attacks on the eastern border of the European Union and NATO. Citizens from third world countries are being used to cross borders illegally. This is not a migrant crisis but a politically orchestrated operation by Alexander Lukashenko's regime to draw attention to growing human and civil rights abuses in Belarus", the joint statement said.

European Union without an adequate solution

On the occasion of the escalation of the crisis at the borders, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, also spoke out, accusing Belarus of trying to destabilize the entire region, by transferring migrants to the borders of the European Union.

"What Lukashenko is trying to do is destabilize the European Union, using human beings to do it. The sanctions imposed on his regime by the European Union have actually hurt him, and he is trying to do everything to oppose us," the commissioner said. For now, the problem of migration in Eastern Europe has no end in sight. Relations between Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Belarus are at the lowest level, and the European Union does not yet have an adequate solution that would satisfy both sides.

So far, there are several thousand migrants on the borders of these countries whose future is uncertain due to the political crisis, and the situation can certainly be further complicated if we take into account the fact that Europe is entering autumn and winter - a time of year when the European Migration Management Mechanism faces with special challenge.