Poland border crossings drop 98% after €692m investment
Poland’s massive spending on border infrastructure has virtually stopped illegal crossings from Belarus, but the crisis is now shifting to Latvia.
Poland recorded fewer than 250 attempted illegal crossings from Belarus in the first half of this year, a drop of over 98% compared to the roughly 15,500 attempts in the same period of 2025. The Polish interior ministry also claims a 100% apprehension rate for the first six months of 2026, meaning zero migrants successfully evaded border guards. This marks a stark reversal from 2023, when around 12,000 people crossed undetected.
The dramatic shift follows a 3 billion zloty (€692 million) investment in physical and electronic border security. Polish authorities equipped the frontier with a 5.5-metre steel fence and an electronic monitoring system that detects crossings and dispatches officers automatically. "The statistics clearly show that the 3 billion zloty (€692 million) investment in the security of the Polish-Belarusian border has delivered the intended results," the interior ministry declared.
For European policymakers, the data validates heavy capital expenditure on physical barriers as a cost-effective tool against state-sponsored hybrid warfare. Prior to the crackdown, most of the thousands of migrants who successfully crossed headed westward to Germany, straining local government budgets and asylum systems. Germany’s interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, praised Poland’s "impressive" efforts "to stop illegal migration" and said that it was vital for the EU to offer financial and logistical support.
However, sealing one section of the EU's eastern frontier is redirecting the pressure rather than eliminating it. Belarus has increasingly funnelled migrants toward Latvia, with the country recording 111 attempted crossings in a single day last week compared to zero in Poland the day prior. Latvian interior minister Jānis Dombrava told Euronews that his country has now "become the main target" for Belarus’s migrant trafficking.
Polish defences have also forced Belarusian operatives to adapt their methods. Poland says that "specialists from the Middle East" have been brought to Belarus to dig tunnels under the border, with four discovered this year, including one used by 180 migrants. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously thanked Poland for defending Europe from "cynical hybrid attacks" orchestrated by Belarus and Russia, and emphasised the "urgency" of protecting the EU’s frontier from the "predator" Vladimir Putin.
