German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has proposed that the EU border protection agency Frontex be deployed to Poland’s border with Belarus amid accusations that Belarus and Russia are transporting migrants to the European Union’s external border.
During a visit near the border crossing in Połowce, Faeser said that the EU’s common asylum system should also provide for stronger protection of the bloc’s external borders.
“And that’s why I can imagine Frontex providing support here, too, where a large number of German police officers would be involved,” she said.
Poland and the EU accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, of organizing the transfer of migrants from war-torn and impoverished regions to the EU’s external border in order to pressure the EU over sanctions and destabilize the bloc.
Despite the construction of a five-metre-high fence and an electronic surveillance system, migrants continue to try to cross the border irregularly every day.
Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak emphasized that his country is counting above all on the EU’s financial contribution to the development of border security.
He added that cooperation between border guards and police in Germany and Poland is also important in the fight against people smugglers.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently announced that his country intends to temporarily suspend the right to asylum for migrants who cross the border with Belarus irregularly.
Faeser said she had not come to Poland to comment on Tusk’s statements and that there is currently no new legislation, which must first be decided upon by the Polish parliament.
“I assume that our neighbouring country will abide by international and European law just as we do,” she added.