Paweł Szefernaker made the declaration at a meeting on Wednesday between central and local government officials, the state PAP news agency reported.
“We have drawn up a detailed plan in case Poland needs to house people arriving from Ukraine,” Szefernaker announced.
He said that "a blueprint" had been prepared thanks to “cooperation between provincial governors and many institutions,” including the Polish Border Guard and the Office for Foreigners.
In addition, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has set up an "inter-ministerial task force" to oversee the potential reception of Ukrainian refugees, Szefernaker said.
This body includes the defence, labour, foreign and health ministers "as well as representatives of Poland’s key agencies in charge of security,” he added.
Szefernaker revealed that reception centres for displaced Ukrainians would be created in two Polish provinces bordering Ukraine: the eastern Lubelskie region and Podkarpackie province in southeastern Poland.
“At this stage, we have a certain pool of beds at the ready, and scenarios in place for a fairly large group of refugees potentially arriving in the country,” he said.
Szefernaker told the meeting that the Cabinet would liaise with local governments if a conflict between Ukraine and Russia sparked "a bigger than expected wave of refugees," the PAP news agency reported.
His statement came after the Polish prime minister last week announced that the country was making preparations to help displaced people from Ukraine in the event of a Russian attack.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP