Poland’s conservative PiS party, known for its hardline approach to migration during its rule, has proposed a nationwide referendum on the EU migration pact, just days after Prime Minister Donald Tusk came under fire from his own coalition for proposing a tougher migration strategy for the country.
After Tusk (PO, EPP) presented his government’s new migration strategy last Saturday, his ruling coalition partners accused him of following in the footsteps of his predecessor, the PiS (ECR).
PiS responded to Tusk’s move by announcing that it would start collecting signatures for a referendum on the EU’s migration and asylum pact, which it believes Tusk will not support.
On Monday, former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak told the private Wnet radio broadcaster that 500,000 signatures are needed.
“We will be active, we will go out to the people, we will ask for signatures, and this is the right solution,” he said.
Tusk could follow the steps of Hungary and the Netherlands and ask to be temporarily excluded from the migration pact, Błaszczak argued.
“But Donald Tusk is not doing that. And since he won’t do it, nor will he support our referendum motion, it means that he is cheating again and trying to find some substitute theory [regarding the so-called migration crisis],” he added.
When asked about Tusk’s proposal to temporarily suspend asylum rights in Poland, Błaszczak did not reject it outright but said that “everything will depend on the efficiency of such a solution.”
However, he believes it would be ineffective because it would require denouncing international conventions signed by Poland. “Should we denounce the Geneva Convention? Is that what Donald Tusk wants?” he asked.
For Błaszczak, “the problem is that people from the Middle East and North Africa are storming Europe, and the EU, dominated by Germany, has decided to pass the migration pact and move these people from Germany to other EU countries.”
He was referring to the fact that Germany has returned thousands of people who have crossed the border irregularly, half of them Ukrainians.
Tusk accused of not having vetoed the EU pact
PiS, which lost power to Tusk’s broad centrist coalition (EPP/S&D/Renew) after the parliamentary elections exactly one year ago (15 October 2023), called a referendum to be held together with the elections, in which one of the four questions concerned the acceptance of migrants.
However, while the election saw a record turnout of 74.38%, the referendum failed to reach the 50% threshold, making the results non-binding. Many people refused to vote in the referendum because they felt the questions were biased.
On 14 May, EU ministers agreed to the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact. Poland did not use its veto power, something former PiS Environment Minister Michał Woś criticised Tusk for, adding he “lacked the courage” to challenge the European Commission and the German government.
However, Poland did not have the power to veto the pact as it was adopted by a qualified majority. Warsaw and Hungary were the only two to oppose it, but not enough to reject its provisions.
The pact is based on obligatory solidarity, which means that a country can either accept a quota of migrants or contribute financially or operationally to the EU’s migration management system.
Tusk said on Saturday that his government had no intention of respecting the provisions of the EU’s migration and asylum pact and that “no one would force him” to implement it.
“It is our right and our duty to protect the Polish and European borders. The security will not be negotiated with anyone. It is a task to be performed. And my government will carry out this task,” Tusk wrote on X on Monday.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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Publish date : 2024-10-14 21:57:00
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The post Poland’s PiS wants national referendum on EU migration pact – Euractiv first appeared on Love Europe.
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 09:13:39
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