The Polis government has officially adopted a new, tougher migration strategy, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday, despite causing some division within the ruling coalition.
The government’s new approach, announced by Tusk (PO, EPP) on Saturday under the working title “Regaining Control, Ensuring Security,” was criticised for including a temporary territorial suspension of asylum rights, which many politicians from both the ruling camp and the opposition considered legally questionable.
Tusk announced the adoption of the strategy on X on Tuesday afternoon following the government’s weekly meeting but said it was “difficult, but necessary and awaited.”
Suspending asylum rights, even temporarily and territorially, could violate the Geneva Convention, according to former PO MEP Janina Ochojska, as well as opposition PiS MP and former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak, who said on Monday that he feared such a measure would prove “ineffective”.
Tusk also announced on Saturday that he does not intend to implement the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact, which EU ministers approved by a qualified majority vote earlier this year despite opposition from Warsaw, Budapest and Bratislava.
The document, “Poland’s comprehensive and responsible migration strategy for 2025-2030,” is over 30 pages long and consists of eight chapters. It covers issues such as access to territory, the right to asylum, labour market access, and integration.
Migration processes are to be “regulated in detail and remain under control in terms of the purpose of arrival, the scale of the inflow and the countries of origin of foreigners,” the document states.
It was also announced that “the government of the Republic of Poland will demand a change in the current approach to granting asylum.”
The key body for shaping migration policy will be the Interministerial Team for Migration, whose powers have yet to be defined in detail. The team will monitor the implementation of the strategy and prepare its “comprehensive mid-term review” by the end of 2027.
Poland’s visa policy will be based on a “selective model,” where the government formulates rules for foreign citizens wishing to enter Poland. People from a selected group of countries or those with “unique” skills will be given priority.
Visas will be granted based on several criteria, including the need for specific categories of workers arising from strategic investment in the country.
It is also stated that the government opposes reintroducing border controls within the Schengen zone, as Germany did last month. According to the new strategy, border controls should only be introduced temporarily, such as for major sporting or political events.
“The key to solving the challenge of secondary mobility of migrants is to properly secure the EU’s external borders,” the document also reads.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
