Timeline: Belarus migrant stand-off

As the migrant crisis with Belarus grows on the European Union’s eastern frontier in Poland, here is a timeline of the confrontation with Europe’s last dictator.  

– Revenge for sanctions –

Belarus, which borders EU members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, hints that it will stop countering illegal migration after Minsk pulls out of the bloc’s Eastern Partnership scheme in June in retaliation for sanctions slapped on President Alexander Lukashenko after his crackdown on opponents during last year’s disputed election there.

The partnership with six other former Soviet republics — Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan — offers closer economic ties in exchange for reforms.

– Lithuania scared –

On July 9, Lithuania says it is building a wall along its border with Belarus after a “frightening” number of migrants — mostly from the Middle East and Africa — arrive there.

Lithuania has become a refuge for the Belarussian opposition and many fleeing the country since the repression after the presidential election in August 2020. 

On August 10, Vilnius declares a state of emergency along the frontier.

– Poland pushes migrants back –

Poland, which has been building a razor-wire border fence, declares a state of emergency along its eastern frontier on September 7, banning non-residents and the media from the area.

Humanitarian charities accuse Warsaw of illegal round-ups of migrants and of forcing them back into Belarus. 

In mid-October Poland legalises migrant pushbacks.

– First migrants die –

On September 11, German Chancellor Angela Merkel accuses Belarus of “hybrid attacks” by helping migrants to the EU border.

Nine days later, after four migrants are found dead, Poland accuses Belarus and Moscow, Minsk’s main ally, of being behind the migrant wave. 

At least 10 migrants have died in the region — including seven on the Polish side — according to the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

– Barbed wire and walls –

Twelve EU countries including Austria, Greece and Poland demand that Brussels help finance border fences on October 8, but the EU says it won’t pay for “barbed wire and walls”. 

On October 25, Poland says it is sending 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus. In the following days, its parliament backs the construction of a border wall.

– Lukashenko family accused –

Paris accuses the Lukashenko family of being behind attempts to traffic people to Europe via Turkey and Dubai on October 27.

Days later Poland protests to Minsk after it claims armed men in uniform made an incursion onto its territory from Belarus. 

– Escalation fears –

On Monday Poland says it fears an armed escalation with 3,000 to 4,000 migrants now massing at the border.

Two days later it accuses Minsk of “state terrorism” and Moscow of orchestrating the crisis.

NATO — of which Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are members — warns that the Lukashenko regime’s use of migrants as a “hybrid tactic is  unacceptable”.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen calls for new sanctions against Minsk, while the United States says it firmly condemns “the orchestrated instrumentalisation of human beings whose lives and wellbeing have been put in danger for political purposes by Belarus.”

– Cut the gas –

After Lukashenko threatens to cut gas supplies to Europe, Moscow says Friday that he did not ask them and they will continue to honour their contracts. 

But later the Kremlin announces paratrooper drills with Belarus near the Polish border while the EU says Russian military activity near the Ukraine border is worrying.