Poland plans to suspend asylum rights, says it won’t respect EU ideas that harm security

Donald Tusk. Stock photo: AFP via Getty Images

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated that his government’s strategy to address illegal migration includes a temporary suspension of asylum, expressing hope that the EU will acknowledge this decision.

Source: Tusk at the congress of his Platforma Obywatelska (Civic Platform) party in Warsaw on Saturday, as reported by European Pravda, citing Bloomberg

Details: Announcing the presentation of the Take Back Control, Secure Europe strategy, Tusk stressed that one of its elements would be “the temporary territorial suspension of the right of asylum, and I will be calling for this decision to be recognised in Europe”.

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“We know very well how it is used by [Belarusian leader Alexander] Lukashenko and [Kremlin ruler Vladimir] Putin, by smugglers, people smugglers, people traffickers – how the right to asylum is used exactly against the essence of the right to asylum,” he added.

Tusk added, referring in particular to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, that Poland “will not respect and implement any EU ideas if we are certain that they are detrimental to our security”.

During his speech, Tusk criticised his predecessors from Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) party, saying that their policies had “de facto flooded Poland with a wave of illegal migration” and labelling their government as “the most pro-migration government in Europe in terms of illegal migration”.

The Polish Prime Minister promised that illegal migration in Poland would be reduced to a minimum and stated that his government would eliminate practices that effectively circumvented Polish interests and violated the security of Polish citizens and the state, vowing to eradicate these practices entirely.

Background: 

• Poland has implemented several measures to decrease illegal crossings at its eastern border, in particular, constructing a wall along the border with Belarus and announcing plans for additional fortifications.
• Earlier this week, Tusk called on the EU to intensify efforts against illegal migration, highlighting the issue of unlawful crossings from Belarus. 

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