For many years the authoritarian regime of Lukashenko was providing the European Union with border security. The deal was simple – the dictator prevents refugees going through Belarus to the EU and gets money and training for the border guards in return. Despite sanctions from 2011 to 2015 Frontex was actively supporting and developing the Belarusian border regime.
At the end of 2020 the Situation changed. The EU imposed sanctions in response to the brutal repression of the uprising in Belarus against the dictatorship. Lukashenko, in turn, stopped protecting the borders. This created a new route to enter the EU. The conservative governments of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia introduced laws to legalize push backs and started militarizing the borders. Poland created a so-called restricted zone where nobody except residence, police and military is allowed.
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