Poland’s cabinet will discuss a temporary suspension of the right to asylum at its meeting on Tuesday, along with a strategy for controlling irregular migration.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced at a meeting of his ruling Civic Coalition that he planned to at least temporarily suspend the right to asylum.
“The state must regain 100% control over who enters Poland,” he said, adding that he would push for this decision to be recognized in the European Union. He did not provide details about any new measures.
In Brussels, a European Commission spokeswoman noted that Member States are obliged under common rules to provide access to asylum procedures to those seeking protection.
Poland and the EU accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, of deliberately sending migrants from crisis areas to Poland’s eastern border with Belarus.
The border is also the external border of the EU.