Since 2021, Poland has been experiencing a spike in illegal migration attempts at its border with Belarus.
The surge began when Lukashenko retaliated against EU sanctions imposed on Minsk for its support of Russia in the war against Ukraine by mounting migration pressure on the EU.
The Polish authorities and the EU have accused Russia and Belarus of facilitating the transportation of migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and other regions to the border, orchestrating what Warsaw calls an “artificial migrant crisis” intended to destabilize the EU.
Minsk and Moscow have denied these accusations.
Speaking to the Russian state TV channel Russia 24, Lukashenko said: “They [the West] reproach me for the fact that migrants are coming through the Belarusian border. Guys, you have put a noose around my neck in the form of sanctions and demand that I protect the European Union from the influx of these migrants. It will not be like that. Let them go wherever they want. They are not staying with us. This is my policy.”
He claimed that the ongoing migration crisis stems from conflicts and instability in regions like Afghanistan and the Middle East, where, according to him, the West “stirred things up.”
Lukashenko said that crossing the Mediterranean Sea is risky, with many migrants losing their lives in the attempt. Because of these dangers, he said, migrants “have already started to fly through Russia, some go on foot through Belarus, and go through Poland to Germany. Some may stay in Poland; they don’t come to [stay in] Belarus.”
Politicizing migration
In 2021, when the migrant crisis began, European Commission spokesman for foreign affairs Peter Stano held Lukashenko directly responsible, claiming that he was using migrants as a political tool to put pressure on the EU.
Stano said: “I would like to point out that the people who are stranded between the EU’s external border and the Belarusian border are in a situation caused by Lukashenko. The person who claims to be the president of Belarus, though he lacks legitimacy.
“He organized fraudulent elections ... and not only continues to persecute his own citizens but also exploits the dire situation of migrants to use them as a tool of political pressure against the EU. This is unacceptable.”
In June, Polish President Andrzej Duda discussed the situation at the Poland-Belarus border with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, asking him to use his influence with Lukashenko.
Duda warned that if the situation did not improve, Poland might completely close the border with Belarus.
