A coalition of European Union member states opposing the relocation of migrants is being built, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at his press conference, recalling the "determined behavior" of Central European countries during the migration crisis that broke out in 2015.

The Prime Minister was asked by journalists in the Council of Ministers of the EU member states about the draft legislation on the distribution of migrants in the European Union adopted last week. Morawiecki recalled:

Poland took in those fleeing the war from Ukraine, thereby showing "what true solidarity is".

"A person is not a commodity subject to business, for the non-acceptance of which one would have to pay so much and so much," he said, referring to the fact that according to the new Brussels draft, those countries that do not accept a certain number of migrants coming to Europe from the south and east according to a quota, they would have to pay 22,000 euros per year for each rejected immigrant. Warsaw "of course does not agree with such a policy," Morawiecki emphasized.

He predicted that he would protest against the plan "very strongly" at the meeting of the European Council. In this matter

"we are building a coalition of member states and we certainly do not agree to this dictate"

he indicated. He added: the EU plan reminds him of what the Civic Platform, which is currently the leading Polish opposition force, "worked together with Germany in Europe in 2016-2018".

He recalled: Together with the Czech Republic and Hungary, Poland "protected Europe" from the refugee distribution mechanism of the time. "We still defend Poland's sovereignty and the safety of Polish families," Morawiecki underlined.

On Tuesday, the Law and Justice party, which leads the Polish government coalition, submitted a draft resolution opposing the new EU migrant distribution mechanism in the Warsaw parliament. Morawiecki expressed his hope that the Polish opposition will vote in favor of the document. It is in Poland's interest to ensure the sovereign protection of the country's border, argued the Prime Minister.

Morawiecki already indicated on Thursday:

the draft legislation on the distribution of migrants will not be accepted by Poland, nor will it pay for refusing to accept immigrants.

At Thursday's meeting of EU interior ministers, Poland and Hungary opposed the decision on the new mechanism. The draft will now go before the European Parliament.

MTI

Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák