Polish Prime Minister and current President of the EU Council Donald Tusk took advantage of a breakfast on migration with a number of European leaders on Thursday 20 March (see EUROPE 13604/5) to “present information regarding our actions on the eastern border”, he explained at the end of the Euro Summit.
“We are effectively stemming this tide, despite increasing pressure from Belarusian services that organise or support the smuggling of migrants across our border. There are currently up to 200 attempts per day. This approach is “fully understood by all our partners”, and “we have a majority in parliament for solutions previously considered impossible”, added the Pole, referring to the bill to suspend the right to seek asylum in Poland in the event of instrumentalisation, but which is “still awaiting the signature of the president”, Andrzej Duda.
Donald Tusk also discussed the multi-annual readmission agreement between Poland and Germany. “Most European countries have such agreements. Added to this is the Dublin Regulation, which obliges European countries to return migrants to the country where they were initially registered. I have also informed our German partners. I discussed this at length with the Austrian chancellor. Due to migratory pressure, the number of Ukrainian refugees and the problem at the eastern border, Poland will not respect these points of the treaty. We will not accept migrants from other European countries”.
Asked about the Polish bill on Friday 21 March, the European Commission said it was waiting for it to be formally adopted before giving an opinion. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)