Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk states that Poland will be upgrading the wall that exists on the border of Belarus as a result of increased unauthorized migration. Petteri Orpo, the prime minister of Finland, was also in attendance of these announcements on Friday and pushing for EU support for these border policies as the two Prime Ministers were meeting to talk about other issues within regional security.
Both Poland and Finland share a border with Russia, with Poland also bordering Belarus and Ukraine. Thus, these two nations, especially Poland, are two of the main countries taking in refugees fleeing Ukraine. Tusk and Orpo have stated that they wish to cooperate with the whole of the nations within the EU to create a pan-European stance and subsequent policy regarding illegal migration. As the current actions of Russia and Belarus are pushing people to migrate without authorization, Tusk called the current asylum legislation “inadequate” to face these current challenges.
Additionally, the push for protection on the border comes from security concerns. The upgrading of border protection will coincide with the strengthening of defense, for both the nations and the citizens. This is not only in response to current Russian policies, but fear of further aggression expanding into the countries bordering the currently warring nations. Orpo referred to the discussion of security as critical and ensured that both Finland and Poland will be supporting Ukraine.
This development followed the previous announcement on Thursday that U.S. President Joe Biden will be hosting both Donald Tusk and the President of Poland Andezej Duda on the 12th of March. This Washington meeting takes place on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Poland’s becoming a member of the NATO Alliance. The purpose of this meeting, according to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, will be to confirm the countries’ steadfast commitment to the defense of Ukraine against Russia. These recent events within the ongoing global issue of Russia and Ukraine are incredibly important, especially for the United States as Congress is currently stalling to approve a new $60 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, there is said to have been over a million refugees who have migrated to Poland. However, these are only those who have gone through more formal processes of establishing refugee status and obtaining asylum. Approximately, 17 million people have crossed the Polish Border, most of them being women and children. While many of these individuals have merely entered Poland in order to obtain other means of transportation to various EU nations, many have settled in the country without authorization. This is evident through the rise in population of various major cities in Poland. Since the beginning of 2022, the population of Rzeszów, the largest city in south-eastern Poland, has grown by 50%. Other major cities such as Gdańsk have risen by 34%, Warsaw by 15%, and Kraków by 23%.
Poland and Finalnd’s push for heightened security and increased migration policies for the EU is not a result of either country pushing to prevent others from entering the EU. After all, the EU has remained resolute in their stance that their policies regarding migration and asylum are in respect of human rights as well as the international obligation set by the Geneva Convention.
Migration governance is a complex and multifaceted area of policy with ramifications in a variety of policy domains and societal realms. This is also not a new area of discussion for the member states of the EU. Discussion about reform and updating the Common European Asylum System have been ongoing for years. Just last December, the European Parliament agreed to a new pact on migration and asylum with intentions of making it more manageable as well as to instituting a new framework that prompts migration to be for the long-term.
However, many worry how these “stricting” of border policies are going to impact those in need of asylum and protection. One counter-argument is that the increased regulation will be beneficial for security issues such as human trafficking and terrorism. With refugees seeking asylum, there is a relevant economic impact for the host nation. Especially since an integral part of the asylum process is the aid by the government for proper integration. Additionally, a large influx of migration would also impact the labor markets which would consequently affect wages, economic growth, and social welfare systems.
Ultimately, due to the immense increase in the number of people crossing the border into these nations, political leaders are pushing for the EU to increase policies to provide more management along their borders. The difficulty is going to exist within the balancing act of increased security and humanitarianism as the continent continues to face ongoing Russian aggression. NGF will continue to follow not only the developments of Poland and Finland’s border policies, but how the EU and the world adapt and react to the progressing war in Ukraine.
Author: Ella Powers
