Prime Minister Donald Tusk, by proposing to suspend the right to asylum, made the life of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen more difficult, but he did it at the right time – says Matthew Karnitschnig, Politico correspondent in Berlin. In his opinion, von der Leyen cannot react sharply when the far right is growing in strength.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Saturday at the Civic Coalition convention that on Tuesday (October 15) at the meeting of the Council of Ministers he would present government migration strategy “Take back control, ensure safety.” One of its elements will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum. He declared that the government would not respect and implement European ideas that undermine Poland's security – such as the EU migration pact. His declaration was followed by negative comments, mainly from humanitarian organizations.
In its statement on Monday, the European Commission emphasized that the EU must protect its borders – especially with Russia and Belarus, countries that have been putting a lot of pressure on the external borders over the last three years, threatening the security of EU member states and the entire Union. However, she stressed that Member States are obliged to ensure access to the asylum procedure. In the EC's opinion, these two issues – border protection and respect for the right to asylum – are not mutually exclusive.
“Few people will find Tusk's idea particularly drastic”
Matthew Karnitschnig, Politico correspondent in Berlin, who will be the head of the Euractiv portal from January 1, pointed out that Tusk sensed the political moment in Europe well.
– Never before would such an extreme proposal cause political upheaval. Meanwhile, now, when the extreme right is winning or growing from election to election based on anti-migration slogans, few people will consider Tusk's idea to be particularly drastic. Firstly, people understand much more what kind of threat Poland is dealing with, having Russia and Belarus abroad. Secondly, issues related to migration have again become the number one topic in the wave of right-wing victories, he said.
Karnitschnig does not expect many European capitals to follow in the footsteps of Tusk and Finland, which introduced a law suspending asylum in July. Tusk – in his opinion – will not be criticized at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
– Of course, this does not mean that no negative voices will appear, but they will put such politicians in a strange light, because they also have no answer to this problem, because all previous solutions to migration issues have not worked – said the future chief executive of Euractiv. He added that due to the growing popularity of the far right, the majority of the EU political class will not want to position itself as a defender of the status quo.
European Commission on the announcement of Tusk's migration strategyTVN24
An apparent solution
By introducing border controlsGermany itself has eliminated the possibility of criticizing Poland, because – as Karnitschnig concluded – Tusk's move is in some way a response to Germany's move.
He admitted that we are dealing with political theater on both sides. – After this tragic attack, when a knifeman killed three people during the festival in Solingenwe saw the German authorities announcing controls on the border with Poland, as if Islamists were coming to Germany from there. It is hard to believe that these checks will solve anything, but those in power must somehow show that they are responding to the threat – said the commentator.
– Border controls with Poland have been announced, but have they really been reinstated? No, there are reports that this border can be crossed in most places without any problems, he noted. According to Karnitschnig, the situation in Poland is similar: suspending the right to asylum is an apparent solution, after all, asylum in Poland is not what those who try to cross the Polish-Belarusian border care about.
Donald Tusk and Ursula von der LeyenPAP/Marcin Obara
Von der Leyen “probably not happy”
Karnitschnig confessed that he would be surprised if Tusk had not previously informed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EC President Ursula von der Leyen about his move. – Von der Leyen is probably not happy about this, but she knows better than anyone that we need to do everything we can to keep Poland on the European path. The last thing Brussels wants is the return of Law and Justice to power, he emphasized.
Main photo source: PAP/Marcin Obara