On Thursday, 10 October, the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council met in Luxembourg. Poland was represented by Maciej Duszczyk, Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration.

In the nearly 90-day-long period following the establishment of the buffer zone along the Polish-Belarusian border, the number of irregular border crossing attempts dropped by 64%. This confirms the effectiveness of this solution and justifies its implementation. The Minister of the Interior and Administration signed a regulation extending the temporary restrictions limiting freedom of movement within the designated area adjacent to the Belarusian border. The regulation will take effect as of Wednesday, 11 September 2024.

On Wednesday, 7 August 2024, Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak met with Ryuji Koizumi, Minister of Justice of Japan. The meeting concerned the current situation on the border with Belarus. The ministers also discussed the challenges associated with taking in Ukrainian refugees and collaboration geared towards helping Poland’s eastern neighbour.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), with headquarters in Warsaw, and Polish authorities, led by the Polish Ministry of the Interior, this week engaged in a Simulation Exercise which aimed to test the adequateness of the national contingency plan for border guarding at the country’s external borders.

After a six-year-long break, the first Polish-German intergovernmental consultations took place on Tuesday, 2 July, chaired by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz. During the consultations, the Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak met with the German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser.

On Monday, 1 July 2024, the provisions of the so-called Assistance Act (Act of 12 March 2022 on rendering assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the military conflict on the territory of Ukraine) are changing. The legality of Ukrainian citizens’ stay in Poland is extended. The new regulations also concern tools to support people under temporary protection. The new legislation was prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, in cooperation with other ministries – the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. The new legislation is the outcome of extensive consultations with NGOs, local government officials and state institutions.

Ministers of the interior of 15 EU Member States sent a letter on migration to the President of the European Commission. ‘The letter makes it clear that the recently adopted pact is merely the starting point for the debate on the challenges of migration faced by the Community as a whole’, Deputy Minister Maciej Duszczyk pointed out. The letter raises a number of issues, including ensuring that EU Member States are able to effectively process applications as well as transfers and deportations of third-country nationals who are deemed ineligible for international protection or who may be eligible for using protection in third countries.

On Friday, 21 June, Minister Tomasz Siemoniak visited Berlin to meet Nancy Faeser, Minister of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Gerhard Karner, her counterpart in the Republic of Austria. Their talks concerned the ongoing cooperation of uniformed services, the migration crisis and issues pertaining to the conflict in Ukraine.

On Friday, 7 June, President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the Law on Aid to Ukrainian Citizens in Response to the Conflict in the Territory of Ukraine and certain other laws. The bill extends the legality of residence of Ukrainian nationals until 30 September 2025 and brings a number of changes to measures designed to support refugees.