Poland says 'no' to forced relocation of migrants says PM
Poland will veto the forced relocation of migrants, Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, said upon departure for an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
The European Commission has proposed a migrant relocation scheme, under which EU members will have to accept an initial quota of 30,000 migrants from countries bearing the brunt of migration from the Middle East and Africa, such as Greece and Italy.
If they refuse to accept, they will have to pay about EUR 22,000 per non-admitted migrant.
Morawiecki promised that "the Law and Justice (PiS) government will not approve a situation in which Poland will be forced to admit illegal migrants and in which its rights and its sovereignty will be violated."
"Speaking on behalf of millions of Polish citizens, whose interests are being represented by the PiS government, we will veto the forced relocation of migrants," Morawiecki told reporters.
"A Europe of safe borders is also a Europe without forced relocations," Morawiecki said.
According to the Polish prime minister, the EU has been trying to introduce forced relocation of migrants "through the back door, against the treaties, and under the threat of financial penalties."
Morawiecki declared that the PiS government would certainly neither approve such "experiments" nor the forced relocation of irregular migrants.
The prime minister said that, in his opinion, the EU-proposed migration pact is, in fact, no pact but a demand for EU member states to give up.
Morawiecki also used the opportunity to warn of the risk of increased crime caused by uncontrolled migration.
"Opening borders, lack of effective protection, putting Europeans at risk is a strategic mistake, a mistake that threatens the survival of the European Union," he said.
"Europe is a civilization that rejects war, rejects terrorism, murder, rape, and rejects all violence," he continued. "If someone does not accept it, there is no place for such a person in Europe."
Referring to the colonial past of some major Western countries, the Polish prime minister said Poland had nothing to do with their wrongdoing and as such should not be held responsible for its consequences.
"Poland will not pay for other European countries' guilt about colonialism in the past," he said, adding that "it was not the Polish government that contributed to the destabilization in the Middle East and Africa."
He recalled that "Poland has taken in over 3 million refugees from Ukraine" and said that by this action "Poles have shown that they are a wonderful, open nation." (PAP)at/jd/ej/jk
