The European Commission reminded Poland on Monday that EU countries are obliged by EU law to offer asylum seekers access to settlement procedures.
In a major announcement last weekend, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a new migration strategy.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of pushing migrants to the Polish border to destabilize the 27-member EU and undermine security.
A commission spokeswoman acknowledged that Russia and Belarus have exerted “a lot of pressure” on the bloc’s borders over the past three years.
But she said the EU nevertheless maintains the obligation for EU countries to guarantee access to asylum procedures.
The spokeswoman said it is possible to prevent countries such as Russia and Belarus from manipulating migration and using it as a weapon against EU members without suspending asylum rights.
To achieve this, there should be more cooperation and solidarity within the EU in crisis situations, she said.
If Poland decides to suspend asylum rules, Warsaw could invoke Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
This is interpreted as meaning that Member States may, in exceptional cases, deviate from EU rules to maintain public order and protect internal security.
However, it is not legally clear how serious the situation must be for this to be the case.