Polish Prime Minister wants to “temporarily” suspend the right to asylum

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Saturday October 12 that he wanted to “temporary” the right to asylum for migrants who enter his country illegally. The head of government also specified that he would ask the European Union to endorse this measure and that his country would fight “without mercy” against illegal immigration.

Poland, a member of NATO and the EU, accuses Moscow and Minsk of organizing this influx of migrants as part of an attack “hybrid” intended to destabilize the region and the entire European Union – an accusation rejected by the Belarusian regime. “The way in which this right of asylum is used goes exactly against the essence of the right to asylum”estimated Donald Tusk.

In May, Poland announced it would spend more than 2.3 billion euros to strengthen its border with Belarus, which marks the eastern edge of the European Union. On Wednesday, Warsaw and Prague together called for a toughening of European migration policy, advocating a “stricter and different version of the pact on immigration” of the EU which is only due to come into force in 2026.

Home to large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, Poland and the Czech Republic are calling for better protection of the EU’s external borders, at the same time criticizing the restoration of internal borders as Germany has done. Both countries explained that they would request “a very serious debate” on this subject from the next meeting of the European Council.