Poland has firmly denied agreeing to the EU’s migration and asylum pact, insisting there will be no forced relocations. Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak responded to claims by opposition politicians, who suggested that Poland had agreed to speed up the pact’s implementation during a recent informal EU ministers’ meeting in Warsaw.
Siemoniak called this a “false” accusation, emphasizing that no decisions were made at the meeting he chaired.
He criticized the conservative PiS party for using the migration issue in the presidential campaign in a misleading way. Siemoniak reaffirmed Poland’s stance, stating, “We are opposed to the pact,” and highlighted that Prime Minister Donald Tusk had consistently expressed this view.
The minister also reiterated that Poland would not accept migrant relocations. “We’ve made our position clear, and there’s no question of speeding anything up,” he said, noting that under the PiS government, the migration pact was already thoroughly negotiated.
When asked about Tusk’s previous statement claiming Poland’s exemption from the pact due to the country’s intake of Ukrainian refugees, Siemoniak reiterated Poland’s opposition to accepting migrants under the new pact. He also pointed out that discussions on its implementation were still ongoing.
Siemoniak referenced the European Commission’s acknowledgment of Poland’s unique situation with the Belarusian border, where migration is being used as a destabilizing weapon by Lukashenko’s regime. While Poland hasn’t yet filed a lawsuit with the EU Court of Justice, Siemoniak explained that the government preferred to address the matter politically rather than risk an uncertain legal outcome.
In response, Tusk called for a “revolt against regulation,” though it was unclear whether he was referring to the migration pact or the European Green Deal. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also weighed in, suggesting the real revolt would be against Tusk’s government.
