The past few months have seen regular disruptions to movement at the Ukrainian-Polish border (and occasionally at borders with Ukraine's other Western neighbours).

The recent incident involving spilled grain is a form of direct violence – currently only directed against property, but one that could escalate into violence against people at any moment.

Read more in the column by Pavlo Kravchuk, expert of the NGO Europe Without Barriers - Bringing order to the border: why Ukraine and Poland need help from Frontex. 

The expert explains that the border is not functioning properly; free trade is being unjustifiably hindered; there are high-security risks due to military supplies being held up; and there's a risk of violence escalating at the border. The authorities are unable to control the situation and ensure proper border operations.

Kravchuk notes that the concept of an emergency situation exists in the European system of integrated border management, and there are algorithms for the interaction between member states and Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. However, the understanding of an emergency situation in this system is fairly narrow, primarily covering humanitarian emergencies, mass uncontrolled migration, and search and rescue operations at sea.

"Now that the situation at the Polish-Ukrainian border is turning into pandemonium, with attempts to halt not only freight but also passenger and rail traffic, this mission is needed more than ever," the expert asserts.

An important point, the author notes, is that such a mission does not even need to be set up separately. All that has to be done is to apply the mechanism of assistance to member states from Frontex, since its tasks include "assisting Member States in circumstances requiring increased technical and operational assistance at external borders".

The proposed mission at the Polish border would, of course, differ significantly from Frontex's usual modus operandi, which is typically called upon in migration crises, but it aligns perfectly with the logic of its tasks within the framework of the EU Integrated Border Management Strategy. These include monitoring, information gathering, information exchange, risk analysis, and even assisting member states in facilitating the crossing of external borders.

The proposed mission at the Polish border will differ significantly from Frontex's usual modus operandi, which is typically called upon in cases of migration crises, but it aligns perfectly with the logic of its tasks within the framework of the EU Integrated Border Management Strategy, such as monitoring, information gathering, information exchange, risk analysis, and even assisting member states in facilitating the crossing of external borders.

According to the expert, what is also crucial is that unlike many other EU institutions, Frontex is capable of rapid deployment.