Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Poland's senate approves €350 million wall along Belarus border

Poland's senate approves €350 million wall along Belarus border

A draft bill to construct the new border wall was approved by the opposition-dominated Senate in a second vote on Friday.
Poland's senate has approved a plan to build a €350 million wall along its border with Belarus to prevent migrants from illegally entering the country.

The upper house of parliament gave final approval to the proposed 100-kilometre border wall on Friday after a second vote.

President Andrzej Duda has said that he will immediately sign the law into effect following the vote result.

A draft bill to construct the new border wall was approved by the lower house of the Polish parliament on October 14. It had been backed a day earlier by the country's ruling conservative government.

Since August, thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa have tried to cross the Polish border from Belarus.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is accused of ferrying people from several countries to the border to cause more problems for the EU.

Gerald Knaus, chairman of the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a European think tank developing policy ideas on southeast Europe, asylum policy, human rights, and democracy, thinks the situation is "extremely dramatic" and the premise of a "deadly humanitarian tragedy".

"What we've seen in recent weeks and this week in Poland is a new law that allows the violent pushback of people," Knaus told Euronews.

"We are dealing with a dictator on the Belarus side who's prepared to let people die at the border – to lure them to his country, to send them to the border. It’s freezing cold in the marshes and swamps and forests. He doesn’t let them retreat - and if the European Union then engages in violent and illegal pushbacks, people will be caught in between," he went on.

"This promises to be a deadly humanitarian tragedy that is going to get worse in the winter."

Knaus believes Lukashenko is prepared to put any kind of pressure on the European Union so the Polish strategy needs to be clear.

"The strategy cannot be a contest of brutality. What I would recommend, and really the only way I see it is that the European Union needs a partner, needs to find some other country that is prepared to help it counter the blackmail," he added.

"The European Union in return would need to offer such a partner serious support – there are democracies in eastern Europe that are themselves blackmailed at the moment, because of gas, by Gazprom and Russia. The European Union should help these countries massively, and in return these countries could help the European Union. This is about protecting human lives, protecting human dignity but also not giving in to a dictator."

Migration is an increasingly divisive issue in Europe and dozens of countries are calling for EU support to build more walls to stop the illegal crossings.

According to Knaus, the real problem is not the physical infrastructure, but what happens at those walls.

"Currently, the European Union is breaking its own laws, it’s breaking international conventions – not just on the Polish-Belarus border, also on the Croatian-Bosnian border, on the Hungarian-Serbian border, on the Greek-Turkish border. What we are seeing is a deep crisis of the rule of law, where the foundations of international law are being broken by the richest group of democracies in the world."

"The only way out of this is to find ways of humane control that can get majority support. But it is true that if it is not possible to find humane control, democracies will opt for violence – and that is tragic, dangerous, and not acceptable."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Grok 4 Video plus Voice, can identify wildlife!
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
The UK Does Not Have a ‘Far-Right’ Problem
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
JD Vance Warns Europe Faces “Civilizational Suicide” Over Open Borders and Speech Limits
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
×