The EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact cannot be fully implemented as it threatens Poland’s national security due to the country’s geographical proximity to Russia and Belarus, the Polish government’s press service told Euractiv.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk (PO, EPP), whose new migration strategy includes a temporary territorial suspension of the processing of asylum applications, said earlier this month that “nobody would force him” to implement the EU’s Migration Pact adopted last May.

“The Polish government has a critical approach to the Pact on Migration and Asylum. We believe that the proposed regulations do not solve the real problems related to migration,” the government’s press service told Euractiv in a written statement.

The government insisted that Poland had drawn attention at the EU level to the challenges posed by its geographical location, particularly its proximity to Russia and Belarus.

“These countries’ activities, targeted at Poland and the European Union, are aimed at destabilising the situation on the EU’s eastern border,” it said, adding it was taking all legal and operational measures to protect its border, which is also the EU’s external border.

The government believes that some of the solutions adopted in the pact “may pose a threat to the security of Poland and its citizens, which is why we do not see the possibility of implementing them in our country.”

Government clarifies its position.

After last week’s European Council meeting, which focused largely on migration, Euractiv reported that EPP leaders, including Tusk, had drafted a statement referring to the need to implement the migration pact, a change from Poland’s previous position.

After Euractiv Poland published a translation of the article, the far-right opposition party Confederation (PfE/ESN) retweeted a post by its MP Bartłomiej Pejo, who accused Tusk of saying different things in Brussels than at home.

For clarification, Euractiv contacted the government’s press service, and the statement it received was clear about Tusk’s cabinet’s stance.

The government’s press service recalled that the EPP statement stressed that implementing the pact “shall not affect the exercise of the responsibilities incumbent upon member states about the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security.”

It also noted that, in the conclusions of the European Council of 17 October, EU leaders addressed the situation on Poland’s eastern border and expressed an understanding of the unique challenges Poland faces.

“The Council reaffirmed its commitment to counteracting the political exploitation of migration and expressed solidarity with Poland and other countries that defend the EU’s external borders against hybrid attacks,” the government stressed.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)

Source: Euractiv.com