Starting in 2022, NATO and EU member Poland began building a large border wall in order to keep migrants from crossing from Belarus. At the time Belarus, which is closely allied with Russia, was alleged by Warsaw to be 'weaponizing' migrants. Warsaw says this has not only continued but has escalated.
Poland is now seeking more funds from the European Union to further strengthen and extend its fence and fortifications on the Belarusian border while presenting the project as an "investment into European security."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed during a televised visit to the border that new 'anti-migration structures have been erected.
"We have begun intensive work on modern fortification lines in many dimensions. This fortification will appear along the entire Polish border - here in the east- and we will inform public opinion," he said. He urged the EU to back the undertaking.
"This is the external border of Poland, as well as the European Union. Therefore, I have no doubt that the whole of Europe, I believe that we will get this, will have to invest in its security, investing in the eastern border of Poland and in the security of our borders," Tusk underscored.
"I know that there are more and more illegal crossings every day," Tusk continued while also citing the war in Ukraine as a chief cause. He described "the growing threat resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the uncertain geopolitical situation."
"I came today primarily so that both commanders and their subordinates have no doubt that the Polish state and the Polish government are with them in every situation, here at the border," Tusk continued.
He additionally said that he let it be known to his security commanders guarding the border that "there are no limits on resources when it comes to Poland’s security."
The crisis became acute in 2022, when thousands of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Africa first poured into Belarus and proceeded to the Polish border, where they endured bitter cold in their quest to cross the border. Poland alleged that Belarusian security was coordinating and facilitating the plot behind the secenes the whole time.
At times, the situation has brought major confrontations, for example when hundreds of migrants pushed toward the border near the Polish village of Kuznica and attempted to defeat a barbed wire fence with spades and other tools, clashing with Polish security on the other side.