Tensions flare on the Polish and Belarusian borders, what’s going on?

MOSCOW – Surrounded by dense forest, dozens of people huddled near razor-tipped fences along the border Belarus waiting for an opportunity to climb or remove the fence to head west towards Poland.

On the other side, armed Polish border guards and soldiers milled about, keeping an eye on groups of mostly young men from the Middle East, some of whom were marked with sharp pieces of wire.

Tensions over migration are running high across Europe as right-wing parties calling for tighter controls face centrist movements in European Parliament elections, which took place in Poland on Sunday.

Here, the stalemate has an additional geo-political edge. Poland and the European Union have accused Belarus and Russia of trying to sow chaos since 2021, opening a new tab by pushing migrants across the border in what Warsaw calls “hybrid war”. Minsk and Moscow have rejected the accusations.

The number of people coming has increased recently, according to Polish government data. And this week, what Poland considers a war took its toll when a soldier patrolling the border died after succumbing to his injuries from a confrontation with migrants on May 28.

In response, the centrist, pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to reintroduce no-go zones along the border.

Unfortunately, this border is not secure. The aim of the zone is to ensure that no one is hit by attacks like those experienced by Polish soldiers, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski told Reuters.

Back at the fence Monday, the group continued to wait. Ahmed Lebek, 24, from Aleppo, Syria, said he had been there for more than a month. His brother had given up and returned to Belarus, although he had not heard from him since.

“I came from the war looking for a good life. But I find it very difficult to cross this border,” said Ahmed, 35, an English teacher from Syria, as reported by Reuters. He had tried four times to climb the fence.