Belarus–European Union border crisis

Poland is stepping up security measures on its border with Belarus (the European Union's eastern border) after reports that a large group of migrants in Belarus have headed to a checkpoint on the Polish-Belarusian border, world news agencies reported, citing official sources.

Several thousand people protested under the slogan "Stop torture at the border".
The protesters accused the Polish authorities of cruel behavior due to pushing migrants back and the introduction of a state of emergency at the border, which prevents human rights activists and humanitarian organizations from helping migrants.

Growing number of migrants wants to enter the EU along that route.
After a few months ago, in response to Brussels' sanctions, Belarusian President Lukashenko allowed migrants from the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, to enter the country unhindered, the situation on the Polish border is becoming a new crisis hotspot.

A view of an information board regarding the state of emergency near the border with Belarus in Zubrzyca Wielka, northeastern Poland, 03 September 2021. EPA-EFE/Artur Reszko

One of them was an Iraqi man, found on Sunday by Polish border guards near the village of Dworczysko, together with two others, all suffering from hypothermia. The two still alive are recovering in hospital.

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.

Lithuanian border guards stopped more than 2,000 illegal Asian and African migrants coming from Belarus over the month of tough measures in force in the Baltic nation to prevent breaches of its territory,

"Over the past month since the government decided on an enhanced border protection policy, over 2,000 illegal migrants have been pushed back to Belarus," the statement says.

Stoltenberg assessed that the crisis is a new hybrid attack of Belarus and that NATO will react because of that.