2020-09-15 21:06 update: 2020-09-16, 10:02
European Affairs Minister Konrad Szymański. Phot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Over the next several weeks, Poland will send over 600 module homes to refugees in Syria and Greece, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski and Deputy Interior Minister Bartosz Grodecki announced on Tuesday.
The first 156 homes will be sent to Greece within the coming three days, a further 500 to northern Syria over the next few weeks.
Jablonski told a press conference that the homes will be erected in refugee camps in the two countries. In this context he highlighted the serious refugee crisis in Syria and the recent burning down of a large refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Grodecki said that the aid for Syria and Greece was an act of solidarity on the part of the Polish government.
European Affairs Minister Konrad Szymanski stressed that the migration crisis was a European problem which required "European solutions." In this context he said that Poland participated in a number of initiatives aimed at mitigating the crisis, and was involved in building European support for instruments that are effective, bring aid and cause no political divisions in the EU.
Szymanski said Poland was expanding its humanitarian aid capacities. He also announced the strengthening of the Polish-seated EU Frontex agency to raise its efficiency in protecting Poland's borders.
"Poland feels committed to European solidarity (regarding the migration crisis - PAP) and has a vision of how Europe ought to respond to it. On the one hand, this means protecting borders, on the other it is humanitarian and development aid, and measures against the sources of this crisis we are witnessing today, especially in southern Europe. These are effective measures which provide real aid," Szymanski said. (PAP)
