Poland Temporarily Reintroduces Border Controls with Germany and Lithuania
The Polish government's Security Center issued a warning today stating that from midnight, temporary border controls will be reinstated with Germany and Lithuania until August 5, with the possibility of extension.
"If Germany lifts its controls, which, let me remind you, were introduced in October 2023, we will also lift ours," said Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak.
Statistics from the German border do not show a significant increase in legally returned migrants since Germany reinstated its controls, especially since May of this year, when it stopped accepting asylum applications from refugees and migrants arriving from EU countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic.
Poland's opposition right, despite the average number of migrants returned to Poland being similar to the time when the conservative nationalists of Law and Justice were in power until autumn 2023, has since the presidential elections in mid-May and early June launched an aggressive campaign accusing the pro-European centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk of allegedly failing to protect the western border, claiming that Germany is illegally deporting thousands of migrants from North Africa and Asia to Poland every week – reports Danas.
What Is the Border Defense Movement?
With strong support from opposition conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński and both presidents – outgoing Andrzej Duda and newly elected Karol Nawrocki – Polish radical nationalists and extremists have been organizing via social media since March. In recent weeks, they have appeared at the German border as a self-proclaimed Border Defense Movement.
These self-proclaimed patrols, consisting mainly of hooligans and radical right-wing thugs, have set up checkpoints, stopping pedestrians and vehicles, checking IDs, and increasingly clashing with Polish Border Guard officers and police, whom they accuse of not doing their jobs properly.
The Polish Ombudsman and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights have called on the government to immediately remove these unauthorized patrols, which are causing problems for residents of Polish border towns who depend on German clients and tourists, now frightened by the presence of these groups – even though there are no “thousands” of migrants.
"Poles are not indifferent. They are defending their basic interests. They are defending Poland. They are defending the safety of our citizens, our women. Yes, we need migrants to work, but there is no reason to let in young men we know nothing about," said opposition leader Kaczyński, who visited the German border today.
5,000 Soldiers to Assist Border Guards
Prime Minister Tusk’s government responded to the opposition’s campaign, disinformation, and the problems caused by the "citizen arrests" and ID checks by radical nationalists by deciding to reintroduce controls for a month and deploy 5,000 soldiers to assist border guards and police at the German and Lithuanian borders.
Units from territorial defense and military police, as well as air force units with drones, will be directly involved in the border controls, while others will be stationed further inland in Polish territory.
From July 7, crossing the Polish border with Germany will only be possible at 52 designated checkpoints, 16 of which will have permanent control points, and with Lithuania at 13 checkpoints, with two permanent posts.
Controls will not be classic EU external border checks but random, with border guards focusing on vehicles with multiple passengers and buses.
