Poland says opposition to refugees growing in EU

Monitoring Desk

BRUSSELS: Poland’s new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says he is happy that Poland’s opposition to allowing refugees into Europe seems to be gaining greater acceptance in the 28-nation bloc. Morawiecki’s comments came in reaction to European Council President Donald Tusk’s statement that the EU’s mandatary refugee quota system has been divisive and ineffective.

Speaking Thursday as he arrived at an EU summit, Morawiecki said, “I am pleased with all the voices that support our narrative and approach to the issue of refugees.” He said Europe should not accept refugees but should help them in refugee centers elsewhere. Tusk’s comment, aimed at launching a debate on migration at the two-day summit, has angered Greece and Italy, which are struggling with large numbers of migrants they want to resettled elsewhere in Europe.

A new Polish prime minister makes his foreign debut at a European Union summit, a first test of whether the Western-educated former banker can bridge a deepening rift between his right-wing government and Brussels. Mateusz Morawiecki, 49, was tapped last week by the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party to replace Beata Szydlo. Her two years as prime minister were marked by bitter conflicts with the EU over migrants, the environment and the state of Poland’s democracy. Poland’s current isolation marks a sharp reversal for a country which until 2015 was emerging as an increasingly influential voice in European affairs, something underlined by the election in 2014 of a Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, to lead the European Council. Tusk leads the two-day summit which begins Thursday.

European Union leaders are gathering in Brussels set to move Brexit talks into a new phase as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Theresa May over her plans to take Britain out of the 28-nation bloc. Heated debate is also likely as the leaders thrash out whether mandatory refugee quotas should remain a part of the EU’s response to the arrival of thousands of migrants in Greece and Italy. They are also due to officially endorse a new system of defense cooperation, bringing order to the way nations cooperate on security matters. A draft of their summit statement, seen Thursday by The Associated Press, says that progress made in Brexit talks “is sufficient to move to the second phase” to discuss future relations and trade.