Polish parliament voted to expel illegal migrants | News from Germany about Europe

The Polish parliament on Thursday, October 14, voted to legalize the expulsion of migrants at the border. Following the amendment to the law, parliament also approved the construction of a € 353 million border facility to be equipped with motion sensors.

The amendments to the law stipulate that migrants who illegally cross the border, detained on the spot, must leave the territory of Poland. They can also be banned from entering the country for a period of six months to three years.

In addition, the innovation allows the Polish authorities to reject an asylum application filed after an illegal border crossing, if the applicant has not arrived directly from a zone where his life or freedom is at stake.

In recent weeks, Warsaw has deployed thousands of soldiers at the border, erected a barbed wire fence and imposed a state of emergency barring journalists and humanitarian organizations from accessing the entire 400-kilometer border.

The body of a migrant was found again on the border of Poland with Belarus

On October 14, the body of another illegal migrant was found in the Polish zone bordering Belarus. The man’s body was spotted in the field by the crew of a police helicopter while patrolling the territory under the state of emergency.

Police spokesman Tomasz Krupa told the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that the deceased is a 24-year-old refugee from Syria, who was allegedly in Belarus before. He had with him a Belarusian visa issued in mid-September.

A total of seven people have already been found dead at the border since the region faced an unprecedented influx of migrants this summer, according to the authorities in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The circumstances of the death remain largely unclear.

Since August, thousands of migrants – mostly from the Middle East and Africa – have been trying to cross the Polish border from Belarus. According to the EU, by giving refugees the opportunity to cross the border, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is taking revenge for the EU sanctions. There are suspicions that the Belarusian authorities deliberately provide conditions for the import of illegal migrants into the country and illegally transport them to the borders of the European Union. In addition to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are complaining about the increase in the number of migrants at the borders with Belarus.

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History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Stop at the start

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union were established in August 1992. In March 1995, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was signed in Brussels. But after the 1996 referendum, which sharply expanded the powers of the president, in the next 1997 the EU suspended the ratification of the agreement and imposed sanctions on the top Belarusian leadership.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Basis of disagreement

The disagreements between Brussels and Minsk are based on different assessments of the results of the Belarusian elections. Since 1996, the European Union does not consider them democratic due to the inconsistency with international norms. The 2004 referendum, which gave Alexander Lukashenko the opportunity to run for president without restrictions, was not recognized as legal either. The EU is also not satisfied with human rights violations and repressions against activists and journalists.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Sanctions for reprisals

Relations between Minsk and Brussels have seriously worsened after the dispersal of a protest rally on the day of the presidential election on December 19, 2010. The liberalization of 2007-2008 culminated in the arrests of Lukashenka’s rivals and the trials of protesters. The EU lifted most of the sanctions imposed on Belarus after that only in February 2016 in response to the release of political prisoners.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Ambassador scandals

EU ambassadors have left Belarus twice. In June 1998, they were expelled from their residences in the village of Drozdy under the pretext of renovation near the Lukashenka’s residence. The diplomats returned only in January 1999. In February 2012, 27 EU ambassadors again left Minsk for 2 months as a sign of solidarity with the representatives of Poland and the EU, whom the Belarusian side offered to go “to their capitals for consultations.”

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Cooperation in the “Eastern Partnership”

Back in 2009, Belarus, along with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, was invited to the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) program. But it turned out that Minsk does not claim to integrate with Europe, is interested exclusively in pragmatic cooperation in the economy and does not intend to adhere to one of the main priorities of the EaP – democratization.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Euronest – without deputies from Belarus

The 1st Euronest Parliamentary Assembly of the EaP was held in May 2011 in Brussels without parliamentarians from Belarus. They were offended that, together with 5 deputies from the Republic of Belarus, they invited 5 representatives of civil society. At the 6th session of Euronest in Kiev on October 30 – November 1, 2017, as well as at others, there was also no official delegation, but a large group of oppositionists was invited from Minsk.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Minsk is not satisfied with the format

President Lukashenko did not go to the EaP summit in the fall of 2017, although he received an invitation for the first time after the lifting of sanctions. Official interpretation – the format of cooperation does not imply a high level of representation. The delegation was headed by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei. Observers explain the refusal to travel by the lack of bonuses, which Lukashenka had hoped for, and by fear of Moscow’s anger.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

There is cooperation, but there is no contract

Belarus is the only one of the 6 EaP countries that does not have a cooperation agreement with the EU. Relations are still governed by the 1989 agreement between the USSR and the European Economic Community. Minsk would like to sign the Partnership Priorities program with Brussels. This agreement is just a framework document and, unlike the association agreement, does not establish deep forms of interaction.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Economic partnership

For Belarus, the European Union is the second most important trading partner after Russia. The EU accounts for a third of the country’s total trade. Mainly oil products are exported. Trade with the EU in the 1st quarter of 2017 increased by 5.6% compared to the same period last year, to $ 2.9 billion. The surplus is $ 302 million. True, over the previous 3 years, the volume of trade fell by almost half.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Help from the European Union

From 2014 to 2017, the EU aid package for Belarus amounted to 91.5 million euros. Joint projects are funded in the field of environmental protection, energy, and border development. The National Human Rights Plan, adopted with EU assistance, laid the groundwork for internal reforms. Negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission are underway. There is an Erasmus + program for students and teachers.

History of relations between Belarus and the European Union

Simplification of the visa regime

On April 9, 2020, President of Belarus Lukashenko signed a law, the adoption of which completed the process of ratification of the agreement with the European Union on visa facilitation. Among other things, it provides for reducing the cost of a Schengen visa for Belarusians to 35 euros and setting the maximum period for making a decision on issuing a visa – 10 days.

Author: Galina Petrovskaya