Polish PM rejects ex-PM’s deportation force, Schengen referendum proposals

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has rejected opposition proposals for a deportation service and a possible referendum on Poland’s participation in the EU’s passport-free Schengen area.

Photo:Polish Border Guard/X/Straz_Graniczna

Tusk on Wednesday dismissed a migration policy plan presented by former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and lawmakers from his Development Plus grouping.

The proposals include appointing a minister in charge of migration and assimilation, tightening border controls and establishing a special deportation service.

Tusk compared the proposed deportation force to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws inside the United States.

He said ICE had been given extraordinary powers that had frequently caused controversy in the United States and rejected it as a model for Poland.

„In our country, the problem of illegal migration ended with Mateusz Morawiecki’s government,” Tusk said.

He accused the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which Morawiecki led from 2017 to 2023, of allowing large numbers of migrants into Poland while publicly presenting itself as an opponent of immigration.

Tusk referred to the visa scandal that emerged during the previous government and accused it of issuing large numbers of visas and work permits without sufficient controls.

He told reporters that Poland was now handling illegal migration better than any other European country and said Morawiecki was „the last person who should be speaking” on the issue.

’There will certainly be no referendum on Schengen’

Tusk also ruled out a proposal raised by Development Plus lawmaker Łukasz Schreiber to hold a referendum on temporarily suspending Poland’s participation in the land border provisions of the Schengen area.

Schengen allows people to travel between most European Union countries, as well as several non-EU states, without routine passport checks at internal borders.

Schreiber argued that Poles could be asked to choose between greater convenience and greater security, with temporary suspension of Poland’s Schengen participation among the options.

„There will certainly be no referendum on Schengen,” Tusk said.

He added that while some Poles complained about aspects of European Union membership, he knew nobody who objected to being able to travel freely through much of Europe without passports or additional procedures.

’Pure populism’

Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński also attacked Morawiecki’s proposals, calling them „pure populism.”

Kierwiński said the previous government had failed to secure the border with Belarus, exercised inadequate control over the issuing of Polish visas and carried out too few deportations of people who had broken the law.

Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister in charge of Poland’s security services, also criticized Morawiecki’s record, pointing to the visa scandal and weaknesses in the barrier built along Poland’s border with Belarus under the previous government.

He said the new government had strengthened the physical barrier, built an electronic surveillance system and deployed police officers to the border.

The visa scandal emerged under the previous right-wing government. Prosecutors say intermediaries with contacts inside the foreign ministry took payments to secure or accelerate Polish visas for hundreds of foreign applicants, bypassing normal procedures.

The scandal led to the dismissal of Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk, who oversaw consular affairs, and several senior ministry officials.

Wawrzyk and three others were later indicted over alleged abuses connected with the visa system. Wawrzyk attempted suicide in 2023, according to reports at the time. He denies wrongdoing.

Morawiecki presented the migration report on Tuesday. The plan is based on five areas, including tighter borders, changes to the visa system, stricter controls on migrants’ legal status and a stronger emphasis on assimilation.

His Development Plus grouping has opened consultations on the proposals. A final version of its migration policy is expected before Poland’s parliamentary elections next year.

(rt/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP

Radio Poland