EU-Turkey deal includes Polish amendment for no further quotas
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
08.03.2016 12:20
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło said that the deal reached on Monday between the European Union and Turkey included a clause requested by Poland not to force any more refugee quotas on countries in future.
Polish PM Beata Szydło. Photo: EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
“At the request of Poland, in the final text of the agreement, an amendment was added that there will be no new commitments on resettlement and relocation [of refugees],” tweeted Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło following the summit on Monday.
EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the refugee crisis in Turkey, which has seen a record influx of asylum seekers from war-torn Syria.
Following the summit, European Council president Donald Tusk wrote: “We agreed that despite good implementation of the Joint Action Plan on migration, the flow of migrants passing from Turkey to Greece remains much too high and needs to be brought down significantly.
"I am happy that we have a common understanding with Prime Minister Davutoğlu on strengthening our cooperation so as to achieve concrete results on the ground within days.”
The previous Polish government led by Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz agreed to take in 10,000-12,000 refugees, in line with EU plans to relocate a total of 160,000 asylum seekers across the bloc.
In January, Polish PM Beata Szydło announced that up to 400 refugees will be relocated to the country in 2016 as part of the previous government’s commitments on the issue. (rg/pk)