Belarus–European Union border crisis — border crisis between Belarus and the European Union
Belarus orchestrated a migrant influx to EU borders as hybrid warfare, triggering a humanitarian and political crisis across Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.
Key Facts
- Crisis start
- Around 7 July 2021, Lukashenko threatened to flood EU with migrants
- Peak border crossing attempts
- Tens of thousands recorded between August and December 2021
- Migrant deaths
- At least 20 migrants died in winter due to harsh weather and abuse
- Countries declaring emergencies
- Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia each declared states of emergency
- Barrier construction
- Poland and Lithuania completed border walls independently after EU declined to fund them
- Peak period
- October 2021
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election and subsequent protests, EU–Belarus relations deteriorated sharply. In response to EU sanctions, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko threatened in July 2021 to flood the EU with migrants and drugs, and Belarusian state actors began actively recruiting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa with false promises of easy EU entry.
From August 2021, Belarusian authorities guided migrants to the borders of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia, supplying them with tools to breach barriers and directing them toward EU territory. Tens of thousands of unauthorized crossing attempts were recorded, peaking in October 2021. At least 20 migrants died during the winter, and human rights organizations documented violence and inhumane treatment by Belarusian border guards against those who failed to cross.
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia declared states of emergency and built physical border barriers without EU financial support. Human rights bodies criticized both Belarusian authorities for manufacturing the crisis and Baltic and Polish border guards for pushbacks and denial of asylum claims. Border crossings fell sharply in 2022 but never returned to pre-crisis levels, and numbers began rising again in spring 2024.