Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, has actively encouraged would-be asylum-seekers to come to the country, where his security forces help deliver them to the Polish border and refuse to allow them to turn back.
It is unclear at which parts of the Polish border Tusk’s measure would apply, or how it would comply with international humanitarian law.
The Commission spokesperson added: “We need to work towards a European solution — one that holds strong against the hybrid attacks from Putin and Lukashenko, without compromising on our values.”
The spokesperson said the burgeoning crisis — which has seen at least 26,000 people from the Middle East and Africa cross over into Poland this year alone — shows that “we cannot allow Russia and Belarus to use our own values, including the right to asylum, against us and undermine our democracies.”
The European Commission has strongly opposed Budapest when it made similar proposals to Warsaw, leading Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to threaten to bus refugees to Brussels.