The European Commission has given the green light to the rejection of migrants on the border with Russia and Belarus. European Union member states facing flows from these two countries, flows considered improper weapons in the hybrid war against the EU, will be able to adopt measures that violate the “fundamental rights” of migrants, even if in a “proportionate” and “temporary”. This is foreseen in a communication presented by the community executive in Brussels which will effectively translate into an authorization for rejections.
Migrants as weapons
Since the summer of 2021, thousands of migrants and refugees, mostly from the Middle East, have crossed or attempted to cross European borders from Belarus and Russia. Brussels accuses Alexander Lukashenko’s government of supporting this influx together with Vladimir Putin, as part of a “hybrid” attack against the Union. Accusations that Minsk and Moscow deny. The phenomenon concerns the countries bordering the two former Soviet nations: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, but it has been particularly pressing in Poland and Finland.
According to Commission data, in 2024 irregular arrivals at the border with Belarus, particularly on the Polish side, increased by 66 percent compared to 2023. 90 percent of migrants who cross this border illegally have a Russian student visa or as a tourist.
Finland considers pushing refugees back to Russia
“Especially the countries bordering Russia and Belarus, such as Finland, with its 1,340 kilometer border with Russia, are facing the heavy challenge of ensuring the security of the Union and the territorial integrity of the Member States”, he said. explained the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. With the new provision “we have taken another decisive step to support our member states on the front line in countering the hybrid threats resulting from the unacceptable use of migration as a weapon”, said von der Leyen, according to whom “we must never allow autocrats to use our European values against us.”
The rejections
Member States, the Commission recalls in a note, have an “obligation” to protect the EU’s external borders and, at the same time, must “respect” fundamental rights and the principle of non-refoulement. But given the “gravity” and “persistence” of the threat to the security of the EU and the territorial integrity of member states at the external borders with Russia and Belarus, states will now be able to invoke the provisions of the treaty to go further, via ” exceptional” and under “rigorous” conditions, compared to what is provided for by secondary Union law under the control of the Court of Justice.
These “exceptional” actions could include measures involving “serious interference” with fundamental rights, such as the right to asylum and related guarantees, recognizes the Commission, which in its communication outlines the conditions for adopting these measures, which must be “proportionate , limited to what is strictly necessary in clearly defined cases and temporary”.
Funds to counteract flows
The European Union will also give the countries on the north-eastern side 170 million euros to combat the flow of migrants. The funds could be used not to build walls, but to upgrade electronic surveillance equipment, improve telecommunications networks, install mobile detection equipment, thwart drone intrusions and improve the mobility of border patrols. In detail, the funds will support Estonia with 19.4 million, Finland with 50 million, Latvia with 17 million, Lithuania with 15.4 million, Poland with 52 million and Norway with 16.4 million.
