2024-05-14 21:24 update: 2024-05-16, 14:29
Fot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Poland will not receive any refugees under the EU's pact on migration and asylum, as it has already taken in thousands of people fleeing Ukraine and Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said.
The Council of the European Union, on Tuesday, established a set of regulations meant to "ensure fair burden sharing between member states" regarding receiving people seeking asylum in the EU.
Tusk’s comments came after a meeting of his cabinet that same day.
"The minister representing my government voted against the adoption of the migration pact. Poland’s stance on the matter has been clear from the start," he said.
At the same time, he said that the current government has been able to negotiate better conditions for Poland within the framework of the new legislation.
Tusk added that the form in which the pact was finally adopted "allows Poland to evade all negative consequences" for the decision to not let other refugees into the country.
He continued: "Poland will not receive any migrants on account of this (pact - PAP). Poland has received hundreds of thousands of migrants due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. We also have tens of thousands of migrants from Belarus."
"We will not have to pay anything, or receive any migrants from other places," he added. "The European Union will not force any number of migrants on us."
He also said that Poland will continue to receive financial support from the EU in post-pandemic relief funds under the National Recovery Plan (KPO) thanks to the fact that it has taken in thousands of refugees escaping Ukraine since the beginning of the war. (PAP)
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