Asylum law: what is Warsaw's objective?
Poland has announced plans to reduce illegal migration "to a minimum" and suspend the right to asylum, at least temporarily. This is part of the country's new migration strategy, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk, explaining that he intends to demand that the decision be recognised at the EU level. Commentators analyse the motives and background to the move.
Realistic calculations instead of wishful thinking
Tusk has never made a secret of his stance on migration, comments Onet:
“It's not like Tusk has changed his mind on the issue. ... When he was still president of the European Council, he argued with Angela Merkel about the redistribution policy and the overly liberal approach to migration. Tusk understood very clearly that a lack of border controls would inevitably increase support for the far right. ... Today, the German government is closing its borders in response to the AfD's election results. It would be hard to find clearer proof of the failure of a policy based on wishful thinking rather than realistic calculations.”
Taking a populist turn
Rzeczpospolita examines Tusk's initiative in the context of next year's presidential election:
“Tusk knows that his ability to contain the emotions (and, let's be honest, the fears) of millions of Poles will determine who becomes president, not the sympathies of the liberal or left-wing elites. With this move the Prime Minister is admitting that he wants to combat the right-wing populism of the PiS and the [nationalist] Konfederacja with populism, albeit populism in a smiling, liberal guise.”
Something is fundamentally wrong
Germany's coalition government should take a look across the border at Poland, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recommends:
“The prime minister who has now announced a temporary suspension of the right to asylum is no right-wing populist - an argument which is usually considered enough justification not to engage in a debate in Germany. Tusk is also not anti-European; he was even President of the European Council at one point. And even then, he was against Merkel's welcome policy, the consequences of which were foreseeable. He belongs to the Christian Democratic European People's Party, and his election victory against the PiS was celebrated in Germany. If a centre-right politician is considering such a drastic measure, then something is fundamentally wrong with the asylum system in the EU.”
Moscow exploiting refugees
RFI România criticises:
“Belarusian border police officers have been spotted actively helping migrants in what Tusk calls a 'hybrid war' tactic aimed at stirring up resentment against migration and blocking state resources. In other words, the Russians are sending migrants and at the same time creating an anti-migrant atmosphere via their disinformation networks. ... The fact that there are so many migrants on the Polish border - a forested and muddy area - creates humanitarian problems for which Russian propaganda naturally blames Poland.”
Migration as a survival strategy
Considering its own past Ireland should not take too hard a stance on migration, The Irish Times admonishes:
“At one point a quarter of the population left Ireland in less than a decade. They left their homes because of famine, unemployment, lack of healthcare, poverty, overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions and rising rents. They left in search of a better life. This history is not unlike those who leave their homelands today. Amid the global realities of rising inequality, increasing situations of poverty and climate-related disasters, migration is a necessary survival strategy.”