The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border remains tense. Attempts to cross it illegally occur regularly. They are considered to be an element of hybrid warfare waged against Poland by the Kremlin-backed regime of Alexander Lukashenko, which brings migrants, including from the Middle East and Africa, to the border area and encourages them to force it. From the very beginning, Poles have been overwhelmingly reluctant to grant migrants access to the asylum procedure in our country. Currently, attitudes towards migrants have worsened even more. Almost three-quarters believe that they should not be able to apply for asylum in Poland (73%), while less than one-fifth (19%) hold the opposite opinion.

Do you agree that the Polish authorities should allow migrants staying on the Polish-Belarusian border to apply for asylum in our country or not?

Following reports of the arrest of Polish soldiers who fired warning shots at migrants attempting to cross the border illegally, and the killing of a soldier by one of the migrants, there were calls for greater permissibility of using weapons by officers defending Polish borders. When we began our study, a bill had already been submitted to the Sejm to guarantee soldiers, police officers and Border Guard officers broader powers in this regard. The bill was finally adopted after introducing Senate amendments at the end of July, after the study had been conducted. We decided to ask respondents what they thought about this idea. The vast majority of Poles supported it (84%), and only one-ninth (11%) were against it.

Do you support increasing the permissibility of using weapons by soldiers, police officers or Border Guards guarding Polish borders?

We also asked respondents to comment on the idea of ​​closing all border crossings with Belarus. The idea was raised by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski at the end of June. Unlike the change in the regulations on the admissibility of using weapons on the border, this solution did not come into effect, but in the period in which we conducted the study it was still mentioned in the public debate. Our data shows that a clear majority of respondents would support closing the border with Belarus (72%), while one-fifth would oppose it (21%).

Due to the growing tension on the Polish-Belarusian border, the government is considering closing all border crossings connecting us with Belarus. Would you support such a solution?