The “Guardian of the Treaties” is No More? The European Commission and the 2021 Humanitarian Crisis on Poland–Belarus Border

Abstract

In 2021, a humanitarian crisis developed at the Poland–Belarus border due to the considerable influx of migrants from Belarus. Polish authorities responded with a systematic practice of pushbacks, sanctioned prima facie by legislative action, that are incompatible with Poland’s obligations under international and EU legal systems. This policy led to the suffering of migrants stranded between borders and more than a dozen confirmed deaths. Despite credible reports of abuses by Polish authorities, the European Commission largely acquiesced to this practice. The article employs both dogmatic and empirical methods to explore the rationale behind such an approach. It is demonstrated that the Commission’s conduct illustrates a pattern evident in the years following the 2015 migration crisis in Europe. Moreover, the analysis suggests that the 2021 crisis had unique characteristics that further incentivized passivity by the Commission.