Poland moves to introduce state of emergency on EU’s eastern border amid migrant surge

Poland’s government has moved to introduce a state of emergency on the country’s border with Belarus – which is also the eastern boundary of the European Union – amid a recent surge in illegal crossings, mostly by Iraqis and Afghans.

It would be the first time since the fall of communism in 1989 that Poland has introduced a state of emergency, said the interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński, at a press conference today.

“We must stop these aggressive hybrid actions, which are carried out according to a script written in Minsk…in order to introduce a destabilising element” said the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking alongside him.

Poland – with support from the EU and Baltic states – has accused Belarus of deliberately facilitating the passage of migrants across the border in order to undermine neighbouring states.

Morawiecki announced today that his cabinet has submitted a request to the president, Andrzej Duda, to introduce a state of emergency (stan wyjątkowy) for 30 days in parts of two eastern provinces.

This “border zone” will cover 115 municipalities in Podlasie and 68 in Lublin Province, said Kamiński. “Restrictions will be applied to residents to a minimal extent, but will be essential for people from outside,” he added, quoted by Onet.

The measures will allow the authorities to “better ensure the border’s tightness and prevent provocations”, said Morawiecki. This will protect Polish citizens and prevent illegal immigration and people smuggling, he explained, reports Gazeta.pl.

The prime minister added that Lithuania and Latvia, which have also experienced unprecedented numbers of crossings from Belarus this year, have introduced similar solutions.

Kamiński noted that one aspect of the new rules will be that “it will not be possible to organise any trips, stunts or demonstrations” on the border. On Sunday, border guards detained 13 activists for trying to destroy part of a new barbed-wire border installed by the government.

Human rights groups and opposition politicians have also come to the border to show support for asylum seekers, in particular a group of around 30 from Afghanistan who have been camped on the Belarusian side of the border for three weeks.

A state of emergency of up to 90 days can be introduced in Poland by the president at the request of the government, though the decision can be overturned by a majority in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament. It can be extended once (for not longer than 60 days) by the president with the Sejm’s consent.

Under a state of emergency, the authorities are empowered to limit certain freedoms, such as the right to gather and protest. They can also restrict communications, including the press and social media. However, the constitution requires that all actions are proportional to the degree of threat.

Last year, the government faced criticism from opposition politicians and legal experts for not introducing a state of natural disaster in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of not doing so, many of the restrictions it introduced have been found unlawful by courts.

The government argued that introducing a state of emergency would have created enormous costs for the state, including paying compensation to affected businesses. But the opposition claimed it was acting for political reasons, as a state of emergency would have delayed presidential elections.

Responding to today’s announcement, Patryk Wachowiec, a legal expert at the Civic Development Forum (FOR) think tank, wrote: “So the government admits that – unlike with the pandemic, during which it massively violated human rights and freedoms – at the border with Belarus ‘ordinary constitutional measures are insufficient’.”

Main image credit: Adam Guz/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.