Poland will reintroduce a buffer zone on the border with Belarus starting Tuesday, said Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz.
“Starting June 4, the buffer zone on the border with Belarus will be restored. It will cover the Gainovsky and Bialystok regions,” the defense chief said.
He further mentioned that citizens would not be allowed to approach the buffer zone closer than 200 meters.
Earlier, the press reported that an illegal migrant attempted to cross the Polish-Belarusian border and subsequently stabbed a Polish serviceman. In response to the incident, additional troops were deployed near the border.
In 2021, thousands of migrants seeking entry into the EU congregated at the border between Poland and Belarus. Warsaw pointed fingers at Minsk as the source of the migration crisis, but Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refuted these claims, asserting that Poland was exacerbating the refugee crisis by deporting migrants from its own soil. Despite this, Warsaw implemented a buffer zone, which remained in place until parliamentary elections were held last year.