In response to a growing influx of undocumented immigrants and growing public concern about security, Poland has resumed temporary border checks with Germany and Lithuania.
Donald Tusk, the country’s prime minister, made the announcement on Monday, arguing that Warsaw needed to “redirect” migration routes that bypassed barriers along the Belarusian border and instead pass through neighboring Latvia and Lithuania.
To “reverse this stream of people,” Tusk said, “to redirect this stream of people who wants to cross Poland once more through the border with Latvia and Lithuania and further into Europe.”
The decision was made as a result of growing tensions between Europe’s various Schengen countries, including Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, which have already taken similar measures over the past 18 months, straining the country’s passport-free travel zone.
Since 2023, Germany has maintained controls on its border with Poland, but it recently has stepped up enforcement by rejecting undocumented arrivals and returning them to Poland in accordance with EU and bilateral agreements.
Polish authorities claim that this has burdened their nation unfairly.
Without effectively reducing migration, Germany’s envoy for Polish relations Knut Abraham warned that the new checks could create traffic congestion and stifle trade. Similar concerns were raised by Zgorzelec’s mayor, Rafal Gronicz, who dismissed fears of a migrant crisis as exaggerated.
He told local radio, “I have never known anyone who wanted to flee Germany to Poland,” adding that as long as I live. “Zgorzelec’s residents are not rushing waves of migrants moving.”
When Berlin’s stricter controls are overturned, according to Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, checks on the German border will be lifted.
We won’t delay either, Siemoniak said, “if Germany lifts its controls.” We want that neither side of the conflict between illegal immigration and migration suffers in any way.
After a Venezuelan national was accused of killing a 24-year-old woman in Torun, escalating tensions in Poland in recent weeks. Around 10,000 people marched on Sunday in her honor on the heels of that killing, sparking nationwide demonstrations led by nationalist organizations.
A Polish man was fatally stabbed in a separate incident on Saturday in Nowe, a town in the north of Poland. Three Poles and ten Colombians were among the 13 people who were detained, according to authorities on Monday. According to state media reports, angry crowds gathered outside a Colombians’ workers’ hostel.
Far-right organizations are also claiming to guard Poland’s western frontier from migrant flows. These vigilante activities were condemned by human rights organizations because they promoted xenophobia and undermined trust in government institutions.
