Poland will return the 200-meter buffer zone along border with Belarus early next week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today, quoted by Reuters. The measure was imposed after an attack on a Polish soldier at the border last week, who has life-threatening injuries, writes BTA.
The border has become a flashpoint of tension between the two countries since migrants began flocking there in 2021 after Belarus, a close ally of Russia, opened a Middle East travel agency to offer an unofficial route to Europe. The European Union pointed out that this was done in order to provoke a crisis.
Minsk has rejected accusations that it is helping human trafficking channels to the Polish border.
„We were advised to quickly restore the 200m buffer zone where possible… We are ready to make such a decision at the beginning of next week,”, Tusk said at a press conference near the border.
The buffer zone, which prevents citizens and aid workers from approaching the border furrow, was originally introduced in 2021 by the previous nationalist government of the “Law and Justice” (PiS).
At the time, human rights activists criticized the move, saying it undermined efforts to help migrants, including women and children, stranded at the border.
In recent weeks, the number of migrants trying to cross the border illegally has increased, and border guards have reported several violent incidents.
Yesterday, a Polish soldier suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed over the border fence.
Defense Minister Władysław Koszynat-Kamisz said Poland is ready to increase the number of troops on the border, which currently stands at 5,500, without specifying by how much.
Warsaw plans to spend 10 billion zlotys ($2.55 billion) to strengthen its border with Belarus.