EU reminds Poland of international commitments after Tusk’s remarks on migrants

October 14, Pozirk. Although it is important and necessary to protect the European Union (EU) borders, its member states have international obligations, such as asylum procedures, European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said, according to PAP.

Her comments come days after Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that Poland suspend granting asylum in response to a hybrid war conducted by Russia and Belarus against the EU.

The move may affect hundreds of Belarusians seeking asylum in Poland amid political reprisals in their country.

Hipper stressed that Russia and Belarus have been exerting great pressure on the EU’s borders for three years, threatening the security of its members. However, protecting the border and granting asylum to refugees are not mutually exclusive, she stressed.

According to Hipper, the European Commission is trying to support countries in their fight against the instrumentalization of migrants by Russia and Belarus, in particular through the border guard agency Frontex and NATO.

However, the EU expects all members to implement the provisions of a migration pact, she said. The document envisages extending the time frame for the registration of asylum requests, she noted. She did not answer whether Warsaw notified Brussels that it does not plan to implement the pact.

In recent years Poland has observed an escalation of the migration crisis in its eastern regions due to organized smuggling of people that Warsaw blamed on the governments of Russia and Belarus, accusing its neighbors of destabilizing the EU.

During last week’s convention of his party, the pro-EU, centrist Civic Coalition (KO), Tusk said that he will present Poland’s new migration policy on October 15 at the meeting of his cabinet. He also announced that a halt to the right of asylum will be included in it.

He added that the government will not recognize or implement European ideas, which could harm Poland’s security, such as the migration pact.

The decision prompted an outcry from human rights organizations, which described it as unacceptable.

Amnesty International Poland said on X that the right to asylum is guaranteed by the Polish constitution and the Geneva Convention.

Maria Poszytek, a lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, told PAP that the idea is short-sighted and inhumane.