Polish President Andrzej Duda stated in an interview with the commercial TV channel Polsat News that he was not willing to put up with the forced resettlement of migrants, and no sanctions and quotas would affect the country’s opinion.
Duda expects that any Polish government that emerges after the 15 October elections will respect the country’s interests, meaning it will “concentrate on the causes of the migration problems rather than the symptoms.”
He also expressed the hope that “the situation in the Middle East will be a sobering element” for the EU authorities.
The President is convinced that the current government did the right thing by opposing the resettlement of illegal migrants, because it only exacerbates the problem, not solves it.
There was a world of difference between refugees from Ukraine and illegal migrants.
He stated that most of the illegal migrants were economic ones looking for a better life, not true refugees. Duda noted that most of the migrants stopped by Polish border guards after crossing illegally from Belarus openly admitted that they wanted to go to Germany or other Western countries and had no intention of seeking asylum or staying in Poland.
The EU has already attempted to force Poland to accept resettled irregular migrants. However, the Polish conservative government, unlike the previous liberal one, refused to participate in the migrant quota scheme. It saw no point in establishing camps for detained migrants who did not want to stay in the country.
In its opinion, such treatment of migrants would be inhumane and illegal.
Duda also complained about the way the EU treated Poland for accepting Ukrainian refugees. Poland expected to receive the same kind of help as was given to Turkey, which had to deal with Syrian refugees.
The EU aided Turkey to prevent Syrians from crossing EU borders, but was not prepared to financially help Poland to welcome Ukrainian refugees.
The Polish president claimed that his country was “treated in such a way that we have little doubt that all these calls for European solidarity are fairy tales emanating from EU institutions.”
Poland continues to oppose the EU migration pact adopted in the European Council. Hungary joined Poland in opposing the pact, while Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria abstained.
The current Polish government has decided to ask Polish voters to reject the EU migration agreement in a referendum to be held on 15 October in conjunction with the general election.
