While numerous states are criticizing the blockade by Poland and Hungary on the issue of compulsory entry of refugees or compensation payments following the failure of a joint statement at the EU summit in Brussels, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is far from disappointed. On the contrary, the two Eastern European states defended themselves.
Like Thursday, no agreement could be reached on Friday on a statement from the summit. Hungary and Poland prevented the joint text after being recently voted down in the Interior Minister’s decision to reform the European asylum system. “We do not intend to implement these decisions. We say that openly,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on the sidelines of the EU summit. He also spoke in the boardroom about the “migration war”. In addition to Hungary, Poland has also announced that it will neither take in people seeking protection nor make compensation payments – as the reform aims. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urged the EU summit to make it clear “that the procedure (of the redistribution of the refugees) remain voluntary”.
‘Hungary and Poland do the most for refugees from Ukraine’
Italian Prime Minister Meloni sees no blackmail here. “I am not disappointed in those who defend their national interests,” said the post-fascist politician, adding: “Poland and Hungary are probably the two countries that care most about Ukrainian refugees and they do so with insufficient EU funds ..” She reported that she will be in Warsaw next Wednesday to hold talks with the Polish government.
“The reality is that 25 of the 27 member states wanted to agree with the summit declaration,” emphasized Charles Michel, President of the Council of the EU, at the closing press conference of the EU institutions. There are only two countries that disagree, firstly on the content and secondly on the decision-making process. “But 25 others want to continue working on the external dimension of migration.” This was in the original statement and is now included in the conclusions of the President of the Council.
Debate on referendum in Poland
The debate on the EU asylum compromise and a mandatory admission of refugees is spreading in Poland a few months before parliamentary elections. On Friday, President Andrzej Duda was open to the proposal of the national-conservative PiS government to hold a referendum on EU asylum reform. “A referendum is a form of direct democracy, why shouldn’t it take place?” Duda told Radio Zet on Friday.
Source: Krone
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