Recently, migration pressure from Belarus has increased, and a Polish soldier’s fatal stabbing by a migrant has prompted the government to reinstate a buffer zone and broaden conditions for military use of weapons.

The buffer zone will cover a 44-kilometer stretch, extending 200 meters from the border, and a 16-kilometer stretch, extending two kilometers into nature reserves, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday. The regulation takes effect Thursday.

“In principle, the area covered by the ban does not include tourist towns and routes so that the consequences of the introduced restrictions should be the least burdensome for residents, tourists and business entities,” the ministry added.

The regulation aims to enhance safety for civilians and security personnel and disrupt smuggling networks facilitating illegal migration. The buffer zone will be enforced for 90 days.

This measure revives a similar restriction first imposed in 2021 in response to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s strategy of pushing migrants towards the EU’s eastern borders to retaliate against EU sanctions.

This tactic involved luring thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa with false promises of easy entry into the EU through Poland and Lithuania.