The leader of Poland’s ruling conservatives, Jarosław Kaczyński, told reporters in Warsaw on Tuesday: “The government has adopted a resolution regarding the current situation on Lampedusa.”
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, he added that "the current influx of illegal migrants" to Italy’s Mediterranean island “symbolises the situation that threatens the whole of Europe, including Poland.”
Kaczyński, who heads the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and serves as deputy prime minister, told a news conference that “the only way to combat this invasion is to really tighten the borders and to return those who had crossed the borders to their countries of origin.”
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that “Lampedusa serves as a warning” that “all of the EU may look like Lampedusa if the European Commission’s proposed policies and mechanisms are implemented," Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He added that "the current enormous security crisis in the entire EU” had been caused by “the policy of admitting illegal immigrants to the EU” pursued by German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel and former European Council President Donald Tusk, the ex-prime minister of Poland who is now the main opposition leader.
Polish gov’t calls on EU executive to stop illegal influx of people to Europe
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Polish government said that one of its main missions was to “ensure the security of the citizens.”
The statement added: “The concerning developments on the Italian island of Lampedusa represent one of the examples of the growing migrant pressure on the EU. In response to the proposals of the European Commission, put forward in the so-called migration pact and the 10-point action plan, the Polish government states that the illegal influx of migrants to the EU is a consequence of the EU’s flawed migration and asylum policy.”
The government called on the European Commission "to take appropriate and immediate action to stop the illegal influx of people to the EU; to drop the proposals that encourage illegal migrants to come to the EU.”
The Cabinet added that the proposed "mandatory relocation of migrants" between member states would not curb illegal migration; “on the contrary it will exacerbate the phenomenon, to the detriment of the internal security of the EU and its citizens.”
The Polish government further stated: “Only a fundamental change of migration policy, an increased commitment to the policy of tightening the EU’s external borders, combating international smuggling mafias and implementing measures in migrants’ countries of origin, can bring real results in the fight against people trafficking and stop the influx of illegal migration to the EU.”
Almost 10,000 illegal immigrants reached Lampedusa on boats last week, the Reuters news agency reported.
The island normally has a population of just over 6,000.
On Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive Commission, visited Lampedusa and proposed a 10-point action plan to help Italy deal with a surge in migrant arrivals, according to the DW website.
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the issue was "a European challenge and needs a European answer," British broadcaster the BBC reported.
Poland is set to hold a nationwide referendum on issues including illegal migration together with parliamentary elections on October 15.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl