Poland intends to vote against the mechanism of forced migrant distribution at the European Union summit. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said – his country would come up with its own plan for migrants, which would be safer for the EU, on the eve of his flight to Brussels. And he warned of the threat posed to every European by ineffective border protection. Diplomats of some countries have already commented on this statement of the Polish prime minister, assessing it as a political statement, which will not affect the final decision of the European Union.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown, what hybrid warfare is all about. We do not want chaos and anarchy,” declared Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. According to him, a particular danger now is Belarus, bordering Poland, which is part of Russia’s plan to attack Europe. “They are using different methods for this purpose, including hybrid methods, organized groups of illegal immigrants. The Russian and Belarusian attacks are a reminder, that the borders between countries are not just imaginary lines drawn on a map,” he added.
According to Polish border guards, 151 foreigners, including citizens of Algeria and Pakistan, have tried to enter Poland from Belarus in the past 24 hours.
“The attack on Europe is in full swing, the borders of Europe are not protected. The safety of the inhabitants of our continent is under threat,” continued the Polish prime minister. According to Morawiecki, the EU is a risk to Europeans through its attempts to introduce the forced relocation of migrants. He stressed, that the opening of borders and their ineffective protection is a strategic mistake, that threatens the survival of the European Union.
Morawiecki added, that not everyone understands this and not everyone is aware of the scale of the threat. That is why Poland will propose a secure border plan. And named it several points – rejection of forced relocation of immigrants and fines by Brussels against EU member states, respect for the veto by individual states and the principles of freedom and unilateral decision-making by states.
In his statement, the prime minister recalled, that Poland had received more than 3 million refugees from Ukraine. “We opened our homes, no one forced us to do so. Poles have shown, that they are a beautiful, open nation. There should not be first class and second class citizens in the European Union. Just like there should not be first-rate and second-rate countries. Supporting a Ukrainian citizen with a few dozen euros and threatening to fine him more than 20 thousand euros for not accepting an emigrant from the Middle East or Africa is open discrimination, to say the least,” he stressed.
However, EU sources argue, that it is too late to block the migration agreement now. Morawiecki’s statement today can only prolong the debate on the subject. On 8 June, EU countries adopted a decision on the distribution of migrants by qualified majority vote without the consent of Poland and Hungary. It is a question of so-called mandatory solidarity, i.e. a choice between moving, paying an undocumented migrant (20,000 euros) or operational assistance.
Diplomats also suggest, that Prime Minister Morawiecki will probably not block all the conclusions of the EU summit either, because they are very much about further military and financial support for Ukraine. These include another package of sanctions, Ukraine’s efforts to join the EU, condemnation of the deportation of Ukrainian children and the undermining of the Kakhovka dam.
Thus, Prime Minister Morawiecki can only block provisions on migration, which are already very vague. In such a situation, the conclusions of the European Council would be adopted without this clause. Diplomats also stress, that there are different possibilities for reaching consensus in the Council of Europe, which is especially important in the context of the war in Ukraine.
