Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk had on Wednesday, said he would protect his country’s eastern border. He had also dismisses criticism that a plan to temporarily stop accepting asylum applications infringed human rights.
Tusk had confirmed that he will be attending the European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday where the bloc will conclude plans to tighten its stance on migration. This issue is coming at a time where the issue has become increasingly sensitive for governments – especially those seeking to ward off challenges from the eurosceptic and nationalist right.
“Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in Brussels we will defend the Polish border and we will use all legal instruments. Poland cannot be and will not be helpless.” Tusk had said.
Since Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won an election in 2020 –which contenders have said was rigged— Poland has become home to thousands of opposition supporters from its eastern neighbour country.
Already, experts have said that migration might play a key role in the upcoming 2025 presidential election in Poland, especially since the country has been grappling with a migrant crisis on its border with Belarus since 2021.
Warsaw and the EU have claimed that Belarus and its ally, Russia have orchestrated the situation by directing people from the Middle East and Africa to the border, something Minsk and Moscow have already denied.
The migration strategy, which also plans to introduce a more targeted approach to granting visas to workers and students as well as to encourage Poles living abroad to return, was adopted despite the dissenting views from four left-wing ministers, according to the government’s website.
This will now be subject to public consultations and afterwards, would be put into bills which will have to be adopted by the parliament and signed by the president to come into force.
