Poland To Reintroduce Buffer Zone At Belarus Border, PM Says

Polish soldiers patrol along the border fence on the Polish-Belarusian border in Usnarz Gorny.

Poland will reintroduce a 200-meter buffer zone at the Belarusian border at the beginning of next week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on May 29, after a soldier was left fighting for his life after an attack on the frontier. The border has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021, after Belarus, a close Russian ally, reportedly opened travel agencies in the Middle East to offer a new unofficial route into Europe -- a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis. Belarus rejects the accusation that it helps to channel migrants to the Polish border.