According to Bloomberg, Poland has threatened to block a key Chinese rail route to the European Union as part of a “diplomatic game” aimed at de-escalating the migration crisis in the east. border. The June visit of President Andrzej Duda to China was to play an important role in this game, as he was to use it to link the issue of migration with the transit of goods on the Belarusian border.
Belarus is key for Chinese goods
Bloomberg reminds us that Alexander Lukashenkathe authoritarian leader of Belarus, has spent the past three years trying to create a migration crisis on a 400-kilometer stretch of the border with Poland. Tensions escalated in May when Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek was attacked and killed by a migrantFollowing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Belarus became the only rail link for Chinese goods bound for the EU, with container transit growth rising by 89% in the first quarter of 2024. The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border began to change on July 2, when the Polish government has decided to introduce very detailed controls in a large customs terminal on the border with Belarus.
In Małaszewicze, there is one of the largest in Poland and Europe, the so-called dry PKP transshipment port of international importance. The town is located 9 km from the Polish-Belarusian border. A significant part of transport from the east flows through the local port to the west, including the main land supplies from China. They travel by rail to the port in Gdańsk and to the countries of the European Union. Radosław Sikorski told Bloomberg that Poland's use of freight transit in talks with China “may be a factor” that will reduce the number of attempts to illegally cross the border by immigrants.
The daily number of illegal crossings on the Polish-Belarusian border has decreased
The Polish president's visit to China has caught Lukashenko's attention. In a July 2 speech, the Belarusian leader said that Andrzej Duda “asked Xi Jinping to influence Lukashenko and Putinto put an end to migration.” In response to questions from Bloomberg, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Beijing “hopes that the relevant parties will be able to properly resolve differences through dialogue” and “ensure the safety and smoothness of international logistics channels.” Recently, Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak stated that illegal border crossings with Belarus have decreased by about 70 percent since the beginning of June.
Over a hundred such cases were reported by the Polish Border Guard on June 27, the last day of President Duda's visit to Beijing. According to Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of attempts to illegally enter Poland compared to the situation a month ago. – The indicator is the daily averages. If we compare, in June, an average of 180 people tried to cross the border of our country per day, and now there are several dozen attempts, which is definitely less – emphasized last week the spokeswoman for the Podlaskie Border Guard unit.