Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, has condemned claims by renowned film director Agnieszka Holland that Polish border officers are violently abusing migrants attempting to cross from Belarus.
Holland, a three-time Oscar nominee, also clashed with Poland’s former conservative government over the migration crisis, which was the subject of her 2023 film Green Border. However, the director has been regarded as more politically aligned with the current administration, led by Donald Tusk.
This week, in an interview with online broadcaster Kanał Zero, Holland said that Polish officers continue to act “inhumanely” at the Belarus border, where, since 2021, tens of thousands of migrants – mostly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – have tried to cross with the help of the Belarusian authoritiies.
Asked for examples of mistreatment of migrants, Holland said that Polish officers use “beatings, setting dogs on them, throwing them to the ground, and pushing them back [over the border] where they are tortured by Belarusians”.
She said that she had learned of such behaviour from “direct witnesses of these events” and “reports from non-governmental organizations”.
The director also condemned the “language of contempt” used in Poland to speak about the migrants and she criticised the government’s newly introduced law suspending the right to claim asylum at the Belarus border.
Three more weeks to save @notesfrompoland!
We're so grateful for our readers' generous support so far – over 150 donations in the first week of our campaign.
Every single one is making a difference, but we still need your help. Click below to learn more https://t.co/0gVkMlb7Qu
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 8, 2025
“The prime minister of my country…legalises illegal acts. He excludes a certain category of people from human rights,” said Holland.
Her remarks prompted a quick response from Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is responsible for overseeing Poland’s armed forces, which have been helping the border guard and police secure the border with Belarus.
“Agnieszka Holland’s words about Polish uniformed officers are scandalous and unacceptable,” wrote the defence minister on social media. “Uniformed officers do not mistreat anyone; they only defend the border and take care of our security. Mrs Holland’s statement undermines this security.”
Słowa pani Agnieszki Holland wypowiedziane w Kanale Zero o polskich mundurowych są skandaliczne i nieakceptowalne. Mundurowi nikogo nie maltretują, tylko bronią granicy i dbają o nasze bezpieczeństwo. Wypowiedź pani Holland godzi w to bezpieczeństwo.
— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) April 9, 2025
In a further interview with news website Onet today, Holland said that “Kosiniak-Kamysz won’t silence me with such personal attacks, nor will he provoke me to apologise for my words about the border…I perceive what is happening there as a painful shame on our country”.
The director also accused the current government of hypocrisy, saying that they had also spoken about the crisis in similar terms to her when they were in opposition. But, now in power, they have “realised that you can make politics from human tragedy”.
When Holland released Green Border in 2023, it was strongly condemned by members of the then Law and Justice (PiS) government. The director took legal action against the then justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, for likening her work to Nazi propaganda.
A court has banned the justice minister from likening director Agnieszka Holland and her new film Green Border to Nazi propaganda while she sues him for making such a comparison.
He has condemned the decision as an "assault on free speech" https://t.co/xKHDIrZofh
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 27, 2023
In 2021, when the border crisis began, some figures from the then opposition expressed sympathy towards the migrants trying to cross. Tusk himself called them “poor people looking for their place on this earth” and criticised the PiS government for its “disgusting propaganda aimed at migrants”.
However, since replacing PiS in power in December 2023, Tusk’s government has taken a tough position on the border crisis. Tusk last year declared that the “survival of Western civilisation” depends upon preventing “uncontrolled migration”.
His administration has sought to strengthen security at the border, has loosened rules on the use of firearms by officers there, and last month suspended the right for people crossing the border to claim asylum, a move criticised by human rights groups as a violation of both Polish and international law.
Poland has suspended the right to claim asylum on the border with Belarus, making immediate use of a law signed by the president yesterday.
This will "combat illegal migration, which is an element of hybrid aggression against Poland", says the government https://t.co/OEWd6aWzDC
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 27, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Martin Kraft/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 3.0)
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.
