Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced the creation of a buffer zone at the Polish-Belarussian border in a bid to thwart the number of illegal crossings.
Speaking after a government meeting held in Białystok on Monday, Tusk said: “We have passed a resolution, as a result of which the interior ministry will issue a decree on the establishment of a buffer zone on the border with Belarus.”
Continuing, he added: “The point is, of course, to make it difficult for illegal migrants to cross the Polish-Belarusian border and to build better conditions for the border guard, police and soldiers.”
Though seen as necessary, Tusk said that the government was aware that such a zone would negatively impact those living inside it. Consultations, he said, were underway to help those people that stand to be affected.
According to Tusk, the new buffer zone would cover a stretch of several dozen kilometers and reach a depth of around 200 meters. "It is the state's task to protect the border, and this can neither be changed by politics nor human emotions," he said.
The government has come under increasing pressure to act following the stabbing of a young soldier by a migrant on the border on May 28. The soldier later died.
Continuing, he added: “The point is, of course, to make it difficult for illegal migrants to cross the Polish-Belarusian border and to build better conditions for the border guard, police and soldiers.”
Though seen as necessary, Tusk said that the government was aware that such a zone would negatively impact those living inside it. Consultations, he said, were underway to help those people that stand to be affected.
According to Tusk, the new buffer zone would cover a stretch of several dozen kilometers and reach a depth of around 200 meters. "It is the state's task to protect the border, and this can neither be changed by politics nor human emotions," he said.
The government has come under increasing pressure to act following the stabbing of a young soldier by a migrant on the border on May 28. The soldier later died.
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