Operation “Lock” – Refugee Crisis Related to the Transfer of Illegal Migrants Across the Polish-Belarusian Border

The Russian-Belarusian services called the plan to transfer migrants to the European Union “Operation Lock”. It consisted in the fact that thousands of migrants tried to enter the European Union illegally through the Lithuanian-Belarusian, Latvian-Belarusian and Polish-Belarusian border. Belarusian state-owned enterprises, brokers, smugglers, tourist offices and illegal financial offices were involved in the crime. All of these groups made money by smuggling people across the border. As a result, the Polish border was forced by more and more refugees. Thanks to the conscious reaction of Poland, the Belarusian operation was not 100% effective, but it was certainly successful in confronting Poles over the admission of migrants. It was also a huge challenge for the services responsible for border security, in particular for the Border Guard. The cost of these activities is PLN 25 million in September 2021 alone. And it is not about the cost of building a dam on the border with Belarus, as it was much higher. The article describes the genesis, course and purpose of the Operation “Lock” as well as the threats accompanying this procedure. The techniques used by Belarus were analyzed and the strategy chosen by Poland to deal with the crisis was presented. The study allows you to understand what happened on the Polish-Belarusian border in the years 2021-2022. It also describes the measures taken by the Border Guard, the Ministry of National Defense and the Police to protect the Polish border. The aim of the study was to emphasize the most important issues concerning the causes, symptoms and threats resulting from the operation “Lock” as well as the methods and effects of its solution. The study also presents the position of the government of the Republic of Poland towards the conditions and methods of solving this crisis. An important topic was also the discussion of the course and consequences of the Operation “Lock” for the Baltic states neighboring Poland.