The Polish president declared a state of emergency on the border with Belarus – Topka

The state of emergency will last for 30 days and will concern the Lublin and Podlaskie voivodships. However, the president’s decision has yet to be confirmed by parliament. The immediate reason for declaring a state of emergency is the crisis caused by the plight of 30 Middle Eastern migrants stranded on the Polish-Belarusian border because Poland refused to accept them. Migrants have been stranded there for three weeks.

The Polish government asked the president to declare a state of emergency earlier this week. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki then declared that the situation on the border with Belarus was crisis and tense. Poland, like Lithuania, has been facing an influx of migrants coming from Belarus in recent weeks. Several leaders accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of organizing illegal migration, which they say is trying to provoke instability in the EU.

Source: SITA / AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski

At the end of May, the Belarusian leader announced that his country would no longer prevent migrants from advancing further into the EU in response to tougher Western sanctions. Poland stretched barbed wire along the border with Belarus for the crisis caused by illegal migration and also began construction of a 2.5-meter-high fence.

Source: SITA / AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski