On Wednesday, the lower house of the Polish parliament adopted amendments to the law on border guards, taking into account the continuing crisis of migrants on the border with Belarus.
The new laws are needed to allow the closed regime to continue in the crisis-affected border area even after the end of the state of emergency.
On September 2, Poland declared a state of emergency on the border with Belarus for 30 days, including banning journalists and charities from being three kilometers across the border. On September 30, the state of emergency was extended by 60 days.
The Polish constitution stipulates that the state of emergency can only be extended once, and this possibility has already been used.
Polish Defense Minister Marshal Blaschak warned on Wednesday that the crisis on the Belarusian border could continue for months and said migrants had attacked the Polish border again at night. “Young, aggressive men are mainly involved in the attacks of illegal immigrants trying to break into Polish territory,” the Polish Ministry of Defense said on Twitter.
The new laws also expand the competence of the border guard and the army in crisis management. Among other things, the new rules allow temporary bans on entering the crisis area and allow border guards to use neutralizing measures in the event of a collision with migrants.
As part of an extensive hybrid attack on the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, attempts have been made in recent months to send thousands of illegal immigrants from Belarus to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, most of whom have arrived in Belarus as tourists from Iraq.
On the other hand, since November 8, there have been massive attempts by migrants from Belarus to break into Polish territory. There have also been clashes between migrants and Polish border guards, the army and the police.
The European Union (EU) has accused the Minsk regime of trying to avenge support for the Belarusian opposition and of sanctions against Belarus in response to last year’s violent crackdown on protests.
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