Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has issued a barbed warning to Brussels over the EU’s migration policy, warning it poses a “threat to the security of Poland and its citizens”.
Tusk, the former President of the European Council, claimed that the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact cannot be fully implemented, as it would undermine Polish national security, given the country’s shared border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus. Belarus is a key Russian ally.
“The Polish government has a critical approach to the Pact on Migration and Asylum. We believe that the proposed regulations do not solve the real problems related to migration,” the government’s press service wrote to Euractiv.
The statement said, in reference to Russia and Belarus, “These countries’ activities, targeted at Poland and the European Union, are aimed at destabilising the situation on the EU’s eastern border.”
The Migration and Asylum Pact, passed in May, was a landmark agreement designed to spread the burden of migratory flows into Europe.
However, Poland and Hungary refused to support the system. In April, Tusk said: “We will protect Poland against the relocation mechanism.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said: “The Migration Pact is another nail in the coffin of the European Union. Unity is dead, and secure borders are no more. Hungary will never give in to the mass migration frenzy.”
However, earlier this month, Tusk signalled that the EU-wise asylum policy should be implemented, prompting calls from right-leaning forces in Polish domestic politics that the PM was presenting contradictory messages.
Clarifying the position, the Polish government noted that, in the conclusions of the European Council of 17 October, EU leaders spoke specifically on Poland’s eastern border and noted their understanding of the special circumstances Poland faces.
“The Council reaffirmed its commitment to counteracting the political exploitation of migration and expressed solidarity with Poland and other countries that defend the EU’s external borders against hybrid attacks,” the government said.