Poland will aim to end illegal migration and temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a new migration strategy, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.
“I will demand the recognition of this decision in Europe,” he said, without giving further details, according to news agency PAP.
Tusk told a party congress of his ruling Civic Coalition that Poland must regain 100% control over who enters the country, which shares a border with non-EU members Russia and Belarus.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of pushing migrants to the border to destabilize the EU’s 27 member states.
Tusk, a former president of the European Council, said this “contradicts the essence of the right to asylum”.
He promised to reduce illegal migration to Poland to the lowest possible level and plans to present the new migration strategy to the cabinet on Tuesday.
Regarding the EU’s new asylum and migration pact, Tusk threatened not to respect or implement ideas he believes would endanger Poland’s security.
