Poland Moves to Send Military Forces to Germany, Lithuania Borders
(MENAFN) Polish President Karol Nawrocki has authorized the deployment of military forces to the country’s borders with Germany and Lithuania, intensifying Warsaw’s response to a sharp rise in illegal migration.
In a resolution issued Friday, Nawrocki confirmed the measures will be in effect from October 5 through April 4, 2026. The move follows a July decision to reinstate border controls, a significant shift for a country operating within the EU's Schengen border-free zone.
The Polish government has attributed the renewed controls to increased migrant flows via the so-called Baltic route. “We are extending border controls with Germany and Lithuania to monitor the migration route leading from the Baltic states, through Poland, to Western Europe,” said Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski, as quoted in a statement issued Wednesday.
Already, 700 troops have been stationed along Poland’s western border, with plans underway to dispatch up to 5,000 more, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz disclosed in July.
While Poland, Germany, and Lithuania are all EU and Schengen members, the bloc has struggled to maintain unity in response to successive migration crises, first triggered by conflicts in the Middle East and Africa beginning in 2015, and later compounded by the war in Ukraine.
The Polish Interior Ministry confirmed this week that temporary checks at the German and Lithuanian borders would remain in place through April 2026.
Official data from Polish authorities indicates nearly 25,000 attempted illegal crossings have been recorded at the Polish-Belarusian border since January. Separately, 500 foreign nationals and 60 suspected human traffickers have been intercepted crossing from Lithuania.
Warsaw has accused German border agents of pushing migrants across the border into Poland—an allegation Germany has not publicly addressed. In 2023, Berlin exercised an EU emergency clause to reintroduce its own temporary checks.
Since 2021, Poland has consistently accused Belarus of channeling migrants into EU territory under the direction of Russia. Both Minsk and Moscow have repeatedly rejected those claims.
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