{"id":11569,"date":"2023-05-24T10:29:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T07:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/migrations-crisis-deepens-as-poland-presses-for-sanctions\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"migrations-crisis-deepens-as-poland-presses-for-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11569\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrations crisis deepens as Poland presses for sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Hennad\u017a Kor\u0161una\u016d, of the Center of New Ideas<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Poland and Latvia have reported a sharp rise in the flow of illegal migrants from Belarus. Lithuania has been less affected but is struggling to curb smuggling.<\/span><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nPoland is the main target <\/h2>\n

Attempts by illegal migrants to cross the border from Belarus into Poland soared in March this year. It was the most intensive \u201cmigrant attack\u201d at the Polish border since the big crisis of the fall of 2021.<\/p>\n

Monthly numbers of migrants rounded up or pushed back from January 2022 to April 2023<\/b><\/p>\n

Poland – orange
\n Lithuania – yellow
\n Latvia – red <\/p>\n

\n\t Germany has recorded higher numbers of migrants entering the country from Poland \u2013 1,389 in January, 1,040 in February, 1,584 in March and as many as 2,427 in April. Half of them were proven to enter Poland from Russia and Belarus.\n<\/div>\n

\n\t Minsk appears to engineer migrant attacks against Poland in retaliation for Warsaw\u2019s support of harsher sanctions against Belarus over the persecution of Polish minority and Belarusian opposition activists. Warsaw was particularly angered by an eight-year prison sentence given in February to Andrzej Poczobut, a prominent journalist and Polish minority activist.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Warsaw closed down the Bobrowniki border crossing to demand his release. Minsk responded with restrictions on the entry of Polish trucks into Belarus. Both measures resulted in long queues of trucks at the Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-Lithuanian border.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Illegal border crossing attempts started rising after Warsaw closed down Bobrowniki and continued to go up after it restricted the traffic of Belarusian trucks at the Kazlovi\u010dy border crossing in Brest. Attempts peaked in the second half of March (more than 650 per week) and the first half of May (nearly 700 per week).\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The migrant flows are said to be coordinated by Belarusian authorities. Migrants were reported to damage fence, throw stones and objects at Polish border guards, damage Polish border guard vehicles and injure people. Polish officials released footage to prove that some migrants were assisted by Belarusian security officers. The attacks prompted Poland to fortify its border.\n<\/p>\n

\nLithuania: Minsk is afraid to provoke <\/h2>\n

\n\t Lithuania was the country targeted by the first wave of illegal migration in 2021. It also came under attack in August and September 2022. However, the focus of what European Union (EU) described as hybrid attacks shifted to Poland.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Since January 1, Lithuanian border guards reported just over 250 incidents per month or about 55 a week.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Some days, Lithuanian border guards did not report a single illegal crossing attempt.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Taking advantage of the reprieve, Vilnius lifted the state of emergency at the border on May 3. The move followed the construction of a border fence and the Lithuanian parliament\u2019s decision allowing border guards to push illegal migrants back into Belarus.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Although Belarusian authorities have shifted the migration focus from Lithuania to Poland, the former is struggling to curb goods smuggling from Belarus.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In 2022, Lithuanian border guards seized more than four million packs of cigarettes, recording a 20-year high amount of seizures, which rose from 2.3 million packs in 2021.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t To counter smuggling, Vilnius closed down the Bieniakoni checkpoint because it was not equipped with a train X-ray scanner. It is reportedly planning to shut down Tvere\u010dius and \u0160umkas checkpoints too.\n<\/p>\n

\n Weekly number of migrants rounded up or pushed back from January 2022 to April 2023<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n From left to right on the image: Bobrowniki, Bieniakoni (yellow) and Kazlovi\u010dy<\/p>\n

Poland – orange
\n Lithuania – yellow
\n Latvia – red<\/p>\n

\n\t Minsk may be cautious to step up migrant attacks against Lithuania because it fears of provoking Vilnius into taking tougher measures against smugglers and attempts to circumvent international sanctions. Minsk still hopes that Vilnius will lift sanctions against Belarusian potash fertilizers.\n<\/div>\n

\n\t Over the past few years, the Western countries imposed sectoral sanctions on the Belarusian authorities for human rights abuses and their complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine. The Belarusian potash giant Belaruskali has been under sanctions since 2021.<\/p>\n

\t Officials in Minsk argue that sanctions, including on potash, should be lifted because of possible increases in the world\u2019s famine levels. EU officials have been discussing the lifting of sanctions against Belaruskali since January.\n<\/p>\n

\nLatvia remains vulnerable <\/h2>\n

\n\t Latvia recorded a record number of illegal border crossing attempts (more than 1,400) in January 2022.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Although more recent numbers were considerably lower, attempts have been on the rise. The average monthly number of illegal crossings rose from 380 in January and February to 776 in April. The Belarusian-Latvian border is just 173-kilometers (108 miles) long, whereas the Belarusian-Lithuanian border stretches across 679 kilometers (422 miles) and the Belarusian-Polish border, 398 kilometers (247 miles).\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Latvia has protected less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of its border with a fence compared to more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) fenced at the Polish-Belarusian border and more than 550 kilometers (342 miles) fenced at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In April, Riga announced its decision to continue with fence construction.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Illegal border-crossing attacks may still intensify this year, exceeding attempts recorded in 2021, the most difficult year for EU border guards. As long as \u0141uka\u0161enka remains in office, the EU neighbors\u2019 border security will always be at risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hennad\u017a Kor\u0161una\u016d, of the Center of New Ideas Poland and Latvia have reported a sharp rise in the flow of illegal migrants from Belarus. Lithuania has been less affected but is struggling to curb smuggling. Poland is the main target Attempts by illegal migrants to cross the border from Belarus into Poland soared in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11569","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMigrations crisis deepens as Poland presses for sanctions | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Hennad\u017a Kor\u0161una\u016d, of the Center of New Ideas Poland and Latvia have reported a sharp rise in the flow of illegal migrants from Belarus. 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