Poland will examine refugee requests: Foreign Minister
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
30.03.2016 10:13
Poland will closely examine the applications of refugees interested in staying in Poland, said the country's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski.
Refugees and migrants sit around the fire at the Greek - Macedonian border in northern Greece on 28 March 2016. Photo: EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI
Minister Waszczykowski added that the country will thoroughly check the identity of asylum seekers and try to ascertain that applicants are not a threat to national security.
Speaking to national broadcaster TVP, Waszczykowski said: “We declared that we will closely select refugees. International law applies to us and we reiterate that we will closely observe it.
"If we find refugees who will document their identity, and local authorities are able to document that they do not threaten Poland, and [the refugees] want to come to Poland, then we will consider their applications to stay in the country.”
The comments come a few days after Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło said that Poland will not be able to take in asylum seekers from the EU for now, following terrorist attacks in Brussels.
Signalling what appeared to be a shift in government policy, Szydło said: “I do not see how Poland could take in immigrants at the moment.”
Her comments came a day after a series of blasts in the Belgian capital killed 32 people and injured hundreds.
“The previous government vouched to take in refugees. It agreed to accept several thousand people, who could come to Poland on a voluntary basis. A total of 28 EU countries agreed to it: to solve this problem through relocation. (rg)