Poland’s suspension of asylum rights “correct under EU law”, says European Commissioner

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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.

During a visit to view Poland’s highly fortified border with Belarus, the European Commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, has expressed support for Warsaw’s recent decision to suspend the right for migrants to apply for asylum after crossing there.

He said that the measure – which has been declared unlawful by human rights groups – is “correct under EU law”. More broadly, Brunner thanked Poland for protecting the EU’s eastern frontier from “weaponised” migration, calling the country “Europe’s first line of defense”.

Since 2021, tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers – mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – have tried to cross with the encouragement and assistance of the Belarusian authorities.

In response, Poland has introduced a number of tough anti-migrant measures, including physical and electronic barriers, an exclusion zone and, most recently, the suspension of asylum rights for people crossing from Belarus, who are sent back over the border even if they try to claim international protection.

That policy has met with criticism from human rights groups, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Poland’s own commissioner for human rights, who say that it violates Poland’s obligation under domestic and international law to consider asylum claims.

During a press conference at the border alongside Polish interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak, Brunner was asked by a journalist what is the commission’s position on the suspension of the right to asylum in Poland, as well as in Finland, which has introduced a similar measure on its border with Russia.

“We had this communication on weaponisation [of migration] and there are some possibilities for member states, and Poland and Finland use these possibilities, which is correct under EU law,” replied the commissioner.

“If the member states apply to [sic] the EU law, everything is correct and that’s possible, and that’s what Poland does,” he added.

“We need to give people back the feeling that we control what is happening at the borders and in the European Union itself,” said Brunner. “Once again, thank you very much for all your support. Poland is carrying out its tasks well.”

In a further statement on X, Brunner said that he was “grateful for the dedication and resilience the Polish border guards show here every day to keep Europe safe”.

“You are the first line of defense for Europe’s internal security,” he added. “The Commission stands firm to support Poland financially and operationally to fulfil this important duty.”

Siemoniak, meanwhile, noted that “we are dealing here with hostile actions towards Poland and the EU [by] the regime of [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko, which instrumentally uses innocent people who are trying to get to a better life”.

“For over three years we have been experiencing hybrid aggression from the Lukashenko regime, which is supported by Russia,” added the Polish minister. “Protecting the EU’s external borders and stopping Lukashenka and Putin’s hybrid war is a priority for both the Polish government and the EU.”

In December, the European Commission announced that it was allocating €170 million to help countries neighbouring Russia and Belarus enhance protection of their borders from “weaponised migration” and other “hybrid threats”. Poland is set to receive €52 million, the biggest share from the pool.

Poland’s interior ministry notes that, since the migration crisis began in 2021, over 117,000 attempts to illegally cross into Poland from Belarus have been recorded. However, it added that, so far this year, there has been a 30% decrease in attempted crossings compared to the same period in 2024.

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: POSG (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

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.