“Survival of Western civilisation” depends on stopping uncontrolled migration, says Polish PM Tusk
The “brutal truth” is that the “survival of Western civilisation” depends upon preventing “uncontrolled migration”, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has declared.
Speaking at an event in the town of Morąg to launch his centrist Civic Coalition’s (KO) campaign for April’s local elections, Tusk was asked about the situation on the border with Belarus, where since 2021 tens of thousands of migrants – mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – have tried to cross into Poland.
“The first and most important task of the Polish state when it comes to the situation at the border is to protect the border, including from illegal migration,” said Tusk, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
🔴Donald Tusk o imigrantach na spotkaniu z wyborcami w Morągu:
’To jest kwestia przetrwania zachodniej cywilizacji. Musimy się obudzić i zrozumieć, że trzeba chronić swoje granice. Jeśli będziemy otwarci na wszystkie formy migracji, to nasz świat upadnie.’ pic.twitter.com/8wHgFhqHkJ
— Mateusz Pluta (@MateuszPluta02) February 11, 2024
The prime minister said that his government “will do what we have to in order not to violate [legal] standards and to prevent situations that violate the core of humanitarianism…It cannot be that people are dying on the Polish side of the border”.
Human rights groups estimate that dozens of people have died on the Polish side of the border since the crisis began.
Tusk noted that the practice of so-called pushbacks introduced by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government – which involve sending migrants back over the border – “are illegal from the perspective of international law”.
He said that he would seek to create a situation at the border in which “pushbacks are not needed at all”. However, he also “will not make any decision that will recklessly result in our border becoming less tight than it is now”.
Poland carried out over 6,000 so-called „pushbacks” of migrants who crossed the border from Belarus between July 2023 and January 2024.
It is the first time the government has released data on the practice, which has been criticised by human rights groups https://t.co/DA5mCB7vAC
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 7, 2024
Figures released by the interior ministry last week confirmed that pushbacks have continued since Tusk’s government took power in December. However, the ministry said that it is working on new procedures to “allow assessment of the individual situation of each migrant who finds themself in Poland”.
Speaking yesterday, Tusk said his government needed first to “fill the gaps and holes” left behind by PiS, including alleged corruption in the visa system and “the very dysfunctional fence” built on the Belarus border.
“But please believe me – and I say this also looking at what is happening in the US today – this is a question of the survival of our Western civilisation,” said Tusk. “We [must] wake up and understand that we have to protect our territory, our borders, that if we are open to all forms of migration without any control, our world will collapse.”
„Poland will not accept illegal migrants” under the EU’s proposed migration pact, which includes a relocation mechanism, says PM @donaldtusk.
„We will not accept a single migrant. Poland will never be part of such a mechanism” https://t.co/3Xov85mVN2
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 4, 2024
Ahead of last year’s parliamentary elections, the PiS government sought to portray Tusk, a former president of the European Council, as soft on migration. In particular, they suggested that he would give in to the EU’s demands to introduce a system for relocating asylum seekers within Europe.
However, during the campaign, Tusk not only presented a tough line on migration, but he also pointed to the fact that PiS had overseen record levels of immigration to Poland.
After his government took office, Tusk declared that Poland “will not accept a single migrant” under the EU’s proposed relocation system. Last week, Poalnd’s ambassador to the EU expressed opposition to the plans, which were nevertheless approved by a majority of member states.
„Poland will not accept illegal migrants” under the EU’s proposed migration pact, which includes a relocation mechanism, says PM @donaldtusk.
„We will not accept a single migrant. Poland will never be part of such a mechanism” https://t.co/3Xov85mVN2
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 4, 2024
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Main image credit: KPRM (under CC BY 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
