"High migration pressure persists on the Polish-Belarusian border," stated the Polish Border Guard (Straz Graniczna) in a post dated August 7 on the social media platform X. "Every day, Border Guard officers take action to prevent foreigners from illegally crossing the border."

Last week, it seems that a group of migrants broke through one part of the metal fence and located a portable blue toilet, turned it on its side, so they could use it as a springboard to scale the next, slightly lower barbed wire fence.

"The entire incident was recorded by a person standing on the Belarusian side," states the Polish border guard. After scaling the barbed wire, the men were "apprehended several meters from the border line," states the Polish Border Guard.

Videos since then appear to show small explosions or clouds of sparks, before migrants run through a hole in the taller fence. Others show masked people climbing the fence, placing jackets and metal poles over the barbed wire to make the scaling for a larger group easier. In most of the videos posted, cars or guards from the Polish authorities arrive quickly in the muddy strip of road between the two fences marking the border with Belarus, and foil the attempts to scale the second fence.

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Hundreds of attempts to cross in last week

On August 11, the branch of the Border Guard in the northeastern Podlaskie province stated that in the last 24 hours, there had been "over 120 attempts to illegally cross the border." The border guard added that "27 actions had been taken to apprehend these individuals" and that "stones and branches were thrown at patrols."

Poland’s Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski visited the border crossing at Swinoujscie-Garz to emphasize the important role officers are playing in protecting Polish borders. In a press briefing, also posted to X by the Polish Ministry of the Interior, Kierwinski said he believed Poland was a pioneer "when it comes to tough asylum rules." He added that Poland had "done everything to make our border tight. This is the result of enormous investments, new electronic systems, and digital security measures that have cost the budget enormous amounts of money."

The Polish border guards said that last weekend they had recorded "over 550 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border" as well as "several incidents of aggressive behavior by individuals behind the technical barrier."

Last week, during a visit to the border guard facilities in the Polish capital Warsaw, Kierwinski announced that new digital recordings of entries and exits of all those people coming from outside the EU would help "strengthen security in Poland and EU member states."

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Legal proceedings

Last week, at a border control in Sejny, Polish border Guards said they detained a Ukrainian citizen who was allegedly transporting "three illegal migrants from Bangladesh." According to a post on X, the group had crossed the Polish-Lithuanian border "in an unauthorized location." The Ukrainian driver is thought to have picked up the Bangladeshi migrants on the Polish side of the border, and they had begun their journey in Latvia.

The Polish border guard said that the Ukrainian national will face "charges for organizing illegal border crossings," and the Bangladeshi citizens would be handed over to the Lithuanian authorities.

Another group of Polish Border Guards at the Bug River crossing filed charges last week against a Syrian citizen. The suspect is accused of "acting in a criminal group … to organize the illegal crossing of the border by 160 foreigners."

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Estonia strengthens its border with Russia

Also on Tuesday, the Baltic state of Estonia announced it would be adding to its protective measures along its eastern EU external border with neighbor Russia "in an effort to keep out migrants," reported the Estonian public broadcaster ERR.

The Estonian authorities have installed folding gates and road barriers at three border crossings in Narva, Koidula and Luhamaa. Work began on the crossings last month and has cost around 3.1 million euros, reported the German press agency dpa.

Prior to the additional barriers, concrete blocks were already present at these border crossings. Peter Maran from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board told dpa, "We can never completely rule out a migration front at our borders," but that he hoped the new barriers would help to quickly prevent border crossings.

The gates can be closed "in seconds" where necessary, reported dpa. 

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