EU migrant relocation plan ‘misguided’: Polish interior minister

Mariusz Błaszczak was speaking on Polish state television after a meeting of interior ministers from four Central European countries in Budapest on Thursday.

He suggested his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary had presented a united front on migration issues during the talks in the Hungarian capital.

The Polish government will not agree to the kind of mandatory relocation rules that "some EU countries are trying to impose," Błaszczak told TVP Info.

"We will try to show that this is about security, and security policy is a national policy, not a Community policy," Błaszczak said.

He added that the Polish government would strive to prove that the planned relocation mechanism would lead to more migrants coming to Europe.

The meeting of the four interior ministers in the Hungarian capital focused on the migration crisis and on ways of protecting the EU's external borders.

The ministers also discussed ties among the four countries, which together form the regional Visegrad Group (V4).

In late September, Poland offered to contribute EUR 50 million to help mitigate the effects of the migration crisis buffeting Europe.

Poland has not accepted any refugees as part of an EU programme to relocate migrants fleeing the war-torn Middle East and Africa from camps in Italy and Greece.

However, the Polish foreign ministry has said that Warsaw will continue to provide support in other areas, including by helping to protect the EU's external borders and by strengthening its humanitarian commitment. (gs)

Source: IAR