Hundreds of Polish cross-border workers demonstrated on Friday evening on both sides of the German-Polish border against restrictions due to the pandemic and which prevent them from joining their daily work station in Germany.
The two countries have imposed a 14-day quarantine on anyone crossing the border, but Germany has relaxed this rule for cross-border workers. Poland has not done so far. Carrying banners declaring "Let us enter and work without quarantine" , a hundred people on the Polish side and as many on the German side demonstrated near the Rosowek-Rosow border post, according to the Polish agency PAP. Similar rallies have taken place in other border towns, for example in Gubin and Guben, or in Zgorzelec and Görlitz.
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"German hospitals in the border area employ a large number of (Polish) doctors and nurses who are unable to reach their posts," said one of the organizers of the movement on the German side, Marta Szuster. According to Eurostat figures for 2018, the 125,000 Poles working in Germany form the largest cross-border contingent in the EU. In recent weeks, some German regions have sought to encourage Polish workers not to return home by offering them compensation of up to 65 euros per day.
Similar, less significant protests also took place on the Polish-Czech border, for example in the Polish village of Chalupki.
Asked during a conversation with Internet users on Facebook, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, admitted that "the dilemma is hard to solve" , explaining that some residents of the regions concerned are concerned about higher contamination rates of the across the border. "I will seek a good compromise," he added, promising to ask the regional authorities to find solutions that avoid quarantine at cross-border but ensure sufficient distance to protect other residents.
