Poland Open to Joint Border Checks With Ukraine on Its Side of the Frontier

Poland's Ministry of Interior says it is ready to agree to joint border control with Ukraine on Polish territory if the security situation requires it. No decision has been taken yet, Polsat News reported, as relayed by European Pravda.

Earlier it was reported that Ukraine's Ministry of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport is negotiating with Poland on an agreement that would allow Ukrainian border guards to work on the Polish side. Moving control to Poland would keep traffic flowing even if border infrastructure on the Ukrainian side were destroyed, and would also shield personnel from Russian attacks.

Poland's conditions

If the situation in Ukraine changes and, for the safety of staff and people crossing the border in both directions, there is a need to introduce control on the Polish side, Poland is prepared to agree to such a solution, and it would be based on joint checks by both states.

The ministry stressed, however, that no decisions have been made so far. Such a step would require notifying the European Commission, since Poland is part of the Schengen area. Under the law, it said, there is no possibility for border guards or other services of a third country to carry out border control independently on the territory of a Schengen state. That applies not only to document checks but also to checking that goods meet EU requirements.

Background

On October 5, operations at the Palanca–Maiaky–Udobne crossing on the Moldovan border were suspended after a shell fired during Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure ricocheted into a passenger bus and a dispatcher's booth. Meanwhile, Poland expects that its own crossing points could also become targets of Russian attacks. See also our World coverage.