Poland suspends asylum at Belarus border, citing hybrid war by 'Moscow and Minsk'

On 27 March 2025 Poland suspended the right to submit asylum claims along its entire border with Belarus under a new law signed on 26 March, with exemptions for minors, pregnant women and others at risk. The Prime Minister's office said Belarus 'has been conducting an organised operation' to push migrants across the border, and the interior minister called illegal migration 'an element of hybrid aggression against Poland'. The suspension remained in force about 18 months later, in September 2026.

Established by. Named: Belarus, and Russia via PM Tusk. Polish Chancellery of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Siemoniak (Mar 2025); PM Donald Tusk (13 Oct 2024) called the plan a response to hybrid war against the EU 'by the regimes of Moscow and Minsk'. European Commission Communication of 11 Dec 2024 refers to 'the weaponisation of migration by Russia, assisted by Belarus'.

Latest. On 16 Sept 2026 Commission President von der Leyen announced a planned 'European Emergency Response Framework' for cases where mass movements are 'engineered and weaponised'. UNHCR and Poland's human rights commissioner have criticised the Polish law.

Link to the war against Ukraine. Warsaw and the Commission present the pressure as a Russia-led hybrid operation against EU states supporting Ukraine.