Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk considers his country to be under threat. The source of this threat is not just Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine, but also migration to Poland from neighboring Belarus that is being orchestrated by that country and Russia.

"We are dealing with a new form of migration where authoritarian regimes are organizing human smuggling on a large scale," Tusk said in Brussels last October.

Heads of governments from across the EU spoke at the time of a "weaponization of migrants" by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

The situation began in 2021, when the number of attempted border crossings along the 418-kilometer (260-mile) Polish-Belarusian border suddenly rocketed.

People from the Middle East, Asia and Africa came to Belarus on tourist visas and were brought straight to the Polish border, in many cases by Belarusian soldiers.

Although Warsaw has since reinforced the border with barbed-wire fences, many migrants still attempt to use this route to enter the EU.

The award-winning Polish director Agnieszka Holland described the appalling conditions on Poland's "green border" in her 2023 film of the same name.

Poland's border guards have been accused of turning away people without allowing them to apply for international protection. Polish courts have repeatedly confirmed and condemned illegal pushbacks at the border.

Donald Tusk now wants to address........

© Deutsche Welle