The EU’s stand-off with Belarus is complicating its row with Poland

THE MIGRANTSEUEUPSECJEU had nowhere to go. Behind them stood Belarus’s brutal security officers, before them rows of Polish soldiers. Mostly Iraqi Kurds, they had been lured to Minsk, Belarus’s capital, with promises of passage to Germany, then dumped in the forests, told to breach the border fence and beaten if they did not. On November 16th the Belarusians moved hundreds of them to a border crossing. Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s dictator, hoped that by provoking violence he could embarrass Poland and divide the , which imposed sanctions after he stole an election. When migrants threw stones, the Poles sprayed them with water cannon.Mr Lukashenko’s use of helpless migrants as propaganda tools is a problem for the , but mostly not in the way he hopes. Rather, his border crisis complicates the European Commission’s conflict with Poland over the rule of law. Since coming to office in 2015, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (i) party has passed laws that give the government power over the courts. The European Court of Justice () has ruled that these laws violate rules about judicial independence and must be rolled back. After years of dithering, the commission has begun to enforce those judgments. Now it must balance supporting Poland on border security with keeping up the pressure on judicial matters.