Civic Platform (PO) leader Donald Tusk published a statement on Wednesday on illegal migrants and the current Polish-Belarusian border crisis. Although Tusk admitted that Poland was dealing with a provocation from Belarus’s side and the country was organizing “streams of migrants” in the direction of the EU’s borders, he also used the opportunity to accuse Polish authorities of being powerless in face of the crisis.
“The government, but also all of us, are responsible for speaking seriously and responsibly about how to prevent this crisis, how to help those in need, and how to secure our borders,” he said in reference to the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, where a group of migrants has been stranded for three weeks.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded to Tusk’s words, pointing out that the Civic Platform leader was noticeably slow to react to the crisis.
“It’s good that Mr. Donald Tusk released a statement, but it comes quite late, after the European Commission released its own,” he said.
On Tuesday, the European Commission’s spokesman Christian Wigand evaluated the situation on the border, saying that the EU “cannot accept any attempts by third countries to incite or permit illegal migration to the EU.”
Morawiecki is of the opinion that Tusk’s statement should have been above all else directed at this party’s own MPs: Franciszek Sterczewski and Klaudia Jachira.
“These MPs are unfortunately behaving in a manner which destabilizes the situation on the border and are showing a lack of responsibility, lack of solidarity and lack of unity in this situation,” he stated.
PO MP Sterczewski has drawn sharp criticism for his activities Polish-Belarusian border for allegedly trying to bring food to the illegal migrants who are located on the Belarusian side of the border:
At the same time, Morawiecki appealed to people to not propagate fake news and not spread propaganda used by Alexander Lukashenko.
“This is perhaps why PO MPs will adhere to what Donald Tusk said in his late Wednesday statement,” he said.
The PM said he is confident that the government is acting in line with international law and is responsibly and professionally protecting “the sacred Polish territory because that is what should be done.”
