The Polish–Belarusian Border Crisis and the (Lack of) European Union Response

Abstract

This article addresses the migration crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border. The authors believe that the actions of the Polish authorities violated the requirements set by human rights standards, including the obligations arising from Poland’s membership of the EU and the Council of Europe. This is confirmed not only by legal doctrine and the reports of non-governmental organisations, present on the ground despite all the restrictions, but also by interim-measure orders issued by the ECtHR against the Polish government. In the first part of the text, the authors summarise the situation, recalling the most important events that took place on the Polish–Belarusian border. The second part discusses the most important obligations of the EU arising both from the treaties creating it and also from the secondary legislation adopted on their basis. The juxtaposition of the EU’s actual response and the obligations written on paper may lead to the conclusion that the EU’s actions are insufficient under EU law. Relying on the texts of legal acts and other available information, the authors argue that the EU’s actions, in a certain amount of compromise with political interests, even detract from its credibility as an organisation that also aims to protect human rights externally.