Poland to build coalition against new EU migration deal

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki meets voters in the town of Łochów on June 11, 2023.

Euractiv.pl (Poland) news network on June 12 quoted Polish Government spokesman Piotr Müller as saying that Poland will seek to block the migration and asylum pact under a new agreement agreed by EU countries last week and will build a coalition supporting Warsaw's position.

At the European Council meeting last weekend in Luxembourg, EU interior ministers agreed on a negotiating position on asylum procedures and the regulation of asylum and migration. Poland and Hungary were the only EU member states to vote against it.

“Poland will block solutions related to the resettlement of migrants,” the spokesman noted, calling the newly adopted agreement “a short-term thinking that will in fact increase the migration wave.”

Under the proposed migration deal, EU states would be bound by “obligatory solidarity” in migration policy, while also having flexibility “regarding the option of making their own contributions,” with countries that refuse to accept their allocated quota of asylum seekers being allowed to make financial contributions, with a minimum of €20,000 per resettlement spot. Officials said the EU would commit to at least 30,000 resettlements per year.

However, Poland insists it does not want to accept asylum seekers or pay money, as Poland's permanent representative to the EU Andrzej Sadoś said the option of financial contribution is effectively "a punishment" for refusing to comply with the quota.

According to Mr. Müller, Poland will seek to build a coalition in the European Council and the EU Parliament against the new migration deal agreed by member states and if the deal comes into force, Warsaw will not fulfill its commitments.

Earlier, according to Polish radio (polskieradio.pl), Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw firmly opposes the European Commission "trying to force Poland and other member states to accept migrants".

Speaking at a voter meeting in the town of Łochów, Mr Morawiecki declared: “As long as our Law and Justice (PiS) party is in power, we will not allow illegal migrants to come to Poland without our consent.”

“For us, the most important thing is the safety of Polish families, the safety of Polish women and the safety of Polish children. The government is protecting Polish security and cultural cohesion,” Mr Morawiecki added.

Prime Minister Morawiecki stressed that Poland “has shown real solidarity with real migrants” by welcoming evacuees and refugees from Ukraine affected by the conflict with Russia.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper