“Among the elements of the migration strategy [révélée le 15 octobre par le gouvernement polonais] will include the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum”, declared Donald Tusk to his supporters, gathered on Saturday October 12 in congress. The center-right elected official, who called on the European executive to “recognize this decision”, mentioned on Sunday on the social network X the Finnish precedent to justify this option: “The temporary suspension of asylum applications was introduced in May in Finland. It is a response to the hybrid war declared across the entire EU.” And this Monday, the former President of the European Council drove the point home by hammering home once again “that security [de la Pologne]cannot be the subject of any negotiation”.
A “hybrid war”
Poland has actually been facing some migratory pressure for three years on its border with Belarus, while the dictator Alexander Lukashenko – an ally of Moscow – knowingly organizes the arrival of migrants from the Middle East to send them to the European Union. Donald Tusk, back in power since last December, has never stopped denouncing this “hybrid war”, joining on this point the national conservatives of PiS (Law and Justice), with whom he is nevertheless in opposition. Polish border guards detect dozens of irregular crossing attempts on the Polish-Belarusian border every day.
“It is difficult to imagine that the EU, the Council of Europe or the UN bodies would accept this project [de suspension du droit d’asile]. Such a reduction in human rights cannot characterize a democratic state. criticized X, Hanna Machinska, former deputy at the office of the defender of rights in Poland.
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Virulent criticism in his own camp
Beyond the circle of Donald Tusk’s followers, the latter’s statements have sparked indignation, including among the allies of his electoral coalition, which won the elections last year. Like left-wing MP Anna Maria Zukowska, who described the Prime Minister’s idea as “sauvage”, deploring a decision taken in private by the Civic Platform (PO, the Prime Minister’s party), without consultation. “We believe that the right to asylum is ‘sacred’ in international law and results from the conventions ratified by the Republic of Poland”, also noted the speaker of the Polish Lower House, Szymon Holownia, also a partner in the heterogeneous government led by Donald Tusk.
“The statements of the Prime Minister of the Polish government are politically irresponsible. The Prime Minister knows, or at least should know, that their implementation is impossible. added Witold Klaus, to the Polish version of the online media Business Insider. Saturday’s announcement did not surprise this researcher at the Migration Research Center at the University of Warsaw, who is well aware of the conservative line of Donald Tusk’s government on immigration.
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A strategic exit with a view to the presidential election?
It seems that the motivation behind the head of the executive is more a matter of political calculation, while the presidential election next spring could put an end to a stormy cohabitation with President Andrzej Duda, from the ranks of PiS. “Donald Tusk achieved the impossible, namely turning attention to his party congress, when that day was inevitably going to be dominated by the PiS congress in the Polish media,” analyzes Anna Paczesniak, political scientist at the University of Wroclaw. “Tusk constantly tries to prove that it’s him, not Kaczynski [le chef du PiS]who is able to ensure the security of Poles and does not hesitate to expose himself to criticism, underlines the academic, who adds that “the EU was too quick to believe that Donald Tusk was swimming in the mainstream of EU migration policy.”
The European Commission, refraining from entering into the game, simply recalled that “Member States are bound by international and European obligations, including that of allowing access to the asylum procedure”.
