The Polish government's announcement of its country's withdrawal from the approval process of the future Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration brings to five the number of EU Member States (Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland) that have announced that they will turn their backs on the UN Compact and the Refugee Compact.
The president of the S&D group in the European Parliament, Udo Bullmann, saw it as “the sad result of a bold campaign by populists and nationalists, based on lies and hatred” on Wednesday 21 November. According to him, "the UN rules do not affect national sovereignty on migration policy, but merely provide nations with non-binding standards for a better regulation of migration.".
The Pact approved at the UN has yet to be formally endorsed, not by a signature in Marrakesh on 10 December, but according to the usual UN procedures.
“Marrakesh is the completion point of the Intergovernmental Conference. In Marrakesh, the parties will confirm that the negotiations have been completed and forward to the UN the text to be put to the vote. There will be no signature, because it is not a legal instrument", a senior European official told the press on Thursday 22 November. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)