The Republic of Poland and the Republic of Belarus established diplomatic relations on 2 March 1992. Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence. Both countries share a border and have shared histories, for they have been part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later, the Russian Empire. They joined the United Nations together in October 1945 as original members. The two countries are currently engaged in a border crisis. Cultural relations between the two are quite friendly but diplomatic relations between the two countries are currently very strained. Poland is a member of NATO and the European Union, and has an anti-Russian stance, whereas Belarus has long been firmly pro-Russia, and as such, the separate paths by default impair the positive bilateral relationship (see Russia–European Union relations). In August 2011, the arrest of Ales Bialiatski using information from Poland led to a harsh war of words between the two countries. However, in February 2017 some tensions arose between Belarus and Russia over border controls, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed indignation at Russia's behaviour. Relations between the two countries have since significantly deteriorated. In the lead-up to and during the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, a number of anti-government protests took place across the country. Belarusian authorities employed various methods of violent political crackdown, consisting of various humans rights violations; Poland strongly condemned the measures. Following Lukashenko's alleged victory for a sixth term, the European Council on 19 August decided that the elections were neither free nor fair, therefore do not recognize the results. Poland and Lithuania became two of the first countries to officially back the Belarusian opposition. Angered by this posturing, Lukashenko claimed that Belarus had closed its EU borders and had deployed additional guards and troops. In August 2021, following a sudden influx of refugees coming from Belarus, Poland deployed 15,000 troops to guard the eastern frontier with Belarus. A standoff ensued between both armies, border guards and refugees caught in between. Poland had accused Belarus of engaging in hybrid warfare, to which Poland was accused of pushing back migrants by force. By 2022, Poland had finalized the construction of a state border barrier between the two countries. In the same year, a number of Home Army monuments in Belarus were purposely destroyed. [citation needed] Geography Belarus and Poland share a common border (~418 km long) which is the European Union external border, which also