EU summit fails to agree on tougher migration wording — RMF24
At the EU summit in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, leaders failed to agree on tougher wording on migration policy promoted by Poland, Italy and Denmark. The initiative of the three countries was supported by a majority of leaders, but France, Spain and Luxembourg opposed it, RMF24 reports.
Tusk and Sanchez dispute
According to the Polish media outlet, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had a heated dispute with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a closed discussion. An RMF24 source described the conversation as very tense.
Sanchez advocated legalizing the stay of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants. He argued that regularizing their status would promote integration, the protection of labor rights and control over the situation. According to RMF24, Tusk opposed this approach, believing that it could encourage illegal border crossings and affect the security of other EU states.
As the outlet writes, the Polish prime minister supported strengthening protection of the EU’s external borders, combating illegal migration, deporting foreigners who break the law, as well as the possibility of applying a stricter asylum policy.
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Work on the summit conclusions
Poland’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Maciej Duszczyk stated that Poland, together with Denmark and Italy, was ready for a strategic discussion at the European Council meeting. According to him, virtually all member states share the direction proposed by the three countries, but France and Spain need to be persuaded.
RMF24 also reports, citing unofficial information, that Tusk briefly left the meeting room for consultations with the Polish delegation. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Hungary allegedly did not want to make a decision in his absence, while European Council President Antonio Costa called the Polish prime minister and asked him to return to the talks.
The final conclusions of the EU summit provide for the European Commission to develop mechanisms for responding to crisis situations related to an influx of migrants at the Union’s external borders. Poland insists that such mechanisms take into account the specific circumstances of individual states, including the constant migration pressure at its border with Belarus.
