Poland: Poland’s Prime Minister Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki has announced that he will go ahead with a referendum on European Union (EU) migration reforms, in which voters will be asked if they are willing to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa.”
Mr. Morawiecki stated in a video published online that the referendum would coincide with a parliamentary election on October 15. Migration and security will be central topics of the election as Mr. Morawiecki’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), seeks to retain power.
PiS’s campaign to lengthen its eight-year rule kicked off recently when the Defence Minister Mr. Mariusz Baszczak commented that he was placing 10,000 troops “nearer the border with Belarus to frighten the aggressor so that they do not dare to attack us.”
The announcement came after Belarusian military helicopters violated Polish airspace and Wagner Group mercenaries set up camp in Belarus. Warsaw has interpreted these moves as a direct provocation, citing them as growing evidence of the threat Minsk poses to Poland and the EU.
Mr. Morawiecki’s government has long refused to accept EU plans to distribute migrants among its members evenly, sharing responsibility for people entering the bloc without authorization. A deal was formally endorsed by EU interior ministers in June, despite some members’ objections, including Hungary and Poland.
PiS has drawn increasing attention to the rising numbers of African and Middle Eastern migrants entering Poland via Belarus, with which Poland shares a 400 kilo meter long border. So far this year, about 19,000 attempted crossings have been made, compared with 16,000 in the whole of 2022.
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