Polish Interior Minister: Poland will not accept refugees from Muslim countries, the country has already welcomed 1 million Ukrainians
The Minister of the Interior of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak, stated that Poland would not accept refugees as part of the new program of the European Union, reports the Polish news agency PAP.
"We will not give our consent because we have already accepted the Ukrainians. For us the priority and the most important task is security. Such ideologically motivated concepts as resettlement and relocation should not put Poland and Poles at risk, “ said the head of Polish Interior Ministry after meeting with the Ministers of Internal Affair of the EU countries in Luxembourg.
At the end of September, the European Commission proposed the creation of a new EU resettlement program allowing for over 50,000 asylum seekers to be accepted in Europe in the next two years. The program will not be obligatory for the EU Member States but they will be encouraged to adopt it.
By adopting the program, the EU intends to introduce a legal procedure for refugee applicants in Europe.
The Interior Ministers of the EU countries convened on Friday to discuss the program.
"[This] resettlement mechanism will not be effective. It is the mechanism that will again attract more waves of migrants to Europe," believes Blaszczak.
"If such a mechanism is adopted, it will bring not thousands, but millions of people. I warned against this and stressed that such a mechanism must be a voluntary mechanism, “ he said.
As reported, Blaszczak told the Internal Affairs Ministers of the EU member countries that in Poland there are currently over 1 million Ukrainian citizens, some of whom fled the war after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and some are economic migrants.
“These people, in contrast to Muslims, have integrated themselves very well,” he said.
"Muslim communities in the west of Europe have not integrated into the Europe for decades, yet they have been trying to impose their values on Europeans," stated the head of the Polish Ministry of Interior.
In his view, even if there are no terrorists in these refugee groups, "these people are the facilitators for Muslim terrorists."
After the meeting of the Ministers, the EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said that he was pleased that the Member States had pledged to ensure a resettlement for 25,000 people.
"I believe we will reach the designated threshold by the end of October. Resettlement is a key instrument of our migration policy which will help to eliminate smugglers, reduce unregulated migration and save human lives," he said.