Diplomatic sources deny Polish media reports quoting EU diplomats and experts as saying that Poland could possibly apply for a derogation to the EU relocation scheme Warsaw recently vetoed with Hungary.
Warsaw will be able to apply to the EU to avoid the “mandatory solidarity” under the proposed EU migration and asylum reform that the Council of the EU agreed on earlier this month, RMF FM reported, citing several EU diplomats and experts.
“Poland was granted a derogation,” one of them told the radio reporter, expressing surprise that the Polish government did not inform on the issue.
Poland and Hungary were the only countries to vote against the Council’s negotiating position, based on the principle that the member states can participate in migration management by either accepting asylum seekers or contributing in other ways, including financially.
The derogation, as explained by the diplomats, concerns member states that have accepted at least one million asylum seekers and embraces both relocations and financial contributions that serve as their equivalent, amounting to €20,000 for a relocation.
However, Polish diplomatic sources denied the reporting, noting that it is not true that Poland could apply for a derogation, meaning both relocations and financial equivalent or operational support, Polish diplomatic sources told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
The media reports are “a mix of manipulation and half-truth,” they added.
The Council’s position includes provisions that the European Commission can set the number of relocations, the source said, adding that the position involves the obligation to pay a financial equivalent of €20,000 by the countries that reject relocations.
The source acknowledged that there are “nebulous” provisions that the Commission can process a member state’s application for a derogation from participating in the relocation due to the burden related to receiving war refugees.
“The Commission would voluntarily process such an application, and then the Council would take the final decision,” according to the source, which points out that the provisions do not indicate whether Ukrainian refugees are to be treated on the same foot as asylum seekers embraced by the relocation scheme.
According to the Polish Border Guard, over 12.8 million Ukrainian citizens have crossed the Polish border since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. It is estimated that 1.5 to 2 million refugees from Ukraine remain in Poland.
“Poland does not support allowing large masses of migrants to the EU, nor does it agree to mandatory fees for not accepting migrants,” the Polish government told EURACTIV.pl last week.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
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