2024-06-13 15:05 update: 2024-06-14, 15:12
Fot. PAP/Artur Reszko
Poland’s interior ministry has reported that the establishment of the buffer zone due to the escalating migrant crisis on the country’s border with Belarus will be in force for 90 days starting from Thursday.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA), the so-called buffer zone on the Polish-Belarusian border covers a strip of land of around 60 kilometres, in the Podlaskie province and is expected to ease the work of the Polish services. It stretches over a width of 200 metres from the state borderline over a section of approximately 44 kilometres.
The regulation introducing the buffer zone was published by MSWiA on Wednesday.
The prohibited area does not include towns and tourist routes so the effects of the introduced restrictions are as little burdensome as possible for residents, tourists and business owners.
The ministry also said that certain measures are in place to curb the illegal smuggling of migrants and provide safety for police, border guards and soldiers patrolling the area.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the creation of the buffer zone after a soldier who had been stabbed at the border died last Thursday.
The area has been consulted with local officials and entrepreneurs. Their proposals and demands have been taken into account, mainly regarding the span of land covered by the no entry zone.
Poland has seen increasing migration pressure on its border with Belarus since 2021, when the Belarusian strongman, Alexander Lukashenko, decided to retaliate for EU sanctions on Minsk by mounting migration pressure on the EU. To this end, Belarus invited thousands of migrants to the country under a false promise of easy access to the EU across the Polish and Lithuanian borders. (PAP)
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