State of emergency in Poland (2021)
Poland declared a state of emergency on 2 September 2021 in 183 areas near the Belarus border. The move followed a request from the Council of Ministers on 31 August, who cited security and public order concerns. The affected areas include 115 localities in Podlaskie Voivodeship and 68 in Lublin Voivodeship. The regulation took effect the same day after publication in the Dziennik Ustaw.
Access to the Usnarz Górny refugee site was restricted: journalists, humanitarian workers, healthcare workers and activists who had waited 21 days were told to leave the emergency zones by the end of 2 September.
Representatives of Fundacja Ocalenie, who had been at the border since August, criticized the declaration, saying it was politically motivated and gave authorities more power without sufficient supervision. Some opposition figures shared concerns, including former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who called the state of emergency a political distraction.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:00 (CET).