Poland has imposed a 60-day restriction on asylum applications at its border with Belarus, with the measure taking effect immediately on March 27. 

The government says the move is necessary due to security concerns linked to what it describes as the "instrumentalisation" of migration along the border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

President Andrzej Duda approved the legal basis for the restriction on March 26, signing an amendment that allows asylum applications to be suspended in cases where migration is deemed a threat to national security or public safety. 

The regulation, which the government published promptly in the official gazette around midnight last night, states that “a temporary restriction on the right to submit an application for international protection” has been introduced, applying specifically to the Belarusian border. The measure is set for 60 days but could be extended if necessary.

Authorities are also required to minimise negative consequences for those seeking international protection. Polish human rights organisations have long spoken against the regulation as unconstitutional.

But growing geopolitical tension in the wake of President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop the war in Ukraine has made Poland on edge about external security threats. Poland is reinforcing its borders with Russia and Belarus, bulking up the army, and has even said it will not hesitate to reach for nuclear deterrence, either via the US or France, or – in the future – by building its own nuclear arsenal.

Earlier this month, Poland also said it will no longer accept asylum seekers returned from other EU countries under the Dublin Regulation. This regulation requires asylum seekers to apply in the first EU country they enter, and if they move elsewhere, they can be sent back.

“We will not accept migrants from other European countries,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, said at the time, setting a potential legal and political spat with Brussels after the European Commission reminded Warsaw that “all member states are required to fully comply with current asylum rules.”

Poland has seen a sharp increase in attempts to cross from Belarus since 2021, a route that many migrants use to travel onward to Germany. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has also taken in approximately one million Ukrainian refugees. 

Tusk’s government has introduced tougher border policies and has pledged to oppose any EU migration deal that requires Poland to accept asylum seekers or contribute financially instead.

EU leaders backed Tusk’s push for a more aggressive migration strategy in late 2024, aimed at preventing Russia and Belarus from using migration as a political weapon against the bloc. 

“Russia and Belarus, or any other country, cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies,” read the summit’s conclusions.

That gave Tusk grounds to say Poland’s position was now “mainstream” within the EU. “I need full acceptance for actions that are not standard, but which are required by the frontline state,” Tusk said.

Tusk’s hardline approach is also shaping Poland’s domestic politics ahead of the 2025 presidential election. All leading candidates are campaign tough migration policies, reflecting shifting public sentiment.