Poland and Hungary Reject EU Amendments to Immigration Rules

Day Two of Filibuster at EU Summit

Poland, backed by Hungary, rejected the EU amendments to immigration rules, which led to its filibuster for the second day in a row, on Friday, during the bloc’s summit.

In early June, the bloc’s countries reached an agreement on a long-drawn-out revision of the bloc’s asylum rules, but Poland and Hungary strongly disagreed.

The agreement aims to divide the reception of asylum seekers among the countries of the European Union, as it requires countries that refuse to accept them to pay money to those who accept them.

Poland and Hungary were defeated in a vote on the plans, but the leaders of the two countries refused to endorse any final statements on migration during the summit, which began on Thursday.

Poland’s Demands for Unanimity in Immigration Decisions

According to a text seen by Agence France Presse, Poland is calling on EU leaders to add a clause stipulating that “unanimity” must be reached in any decisions on this sensitive issue.

He also seeks the provision that immigration policy “should be based on the sovereign law of member states.”

Both countries demanded that any conclusions include a clause that asylum rules must be supported by every EU country. The rest of the Union leaders refused this request.

After failing to reach an agreement on the first day of the summit, which lasted until early Friday morning, the leaders decided to discuss the issue again on the second and final day of the meeting.

“We hope the night has allowed them to think things through,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo said, hoping the two countries’ stances would change from one night to the next.

In turn, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters on Friday morning: “We are aware of the annoyance of Poles and Hungarians. It’s acceptable.” However, he emphasized that “this agreement still exists.”

European diplomats noted that convincing Poland would be more difficult than convincing Hungary. “Hungary can skip it. It’s pretty effective. But the Poles are harder to understand,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

The Polish authorities are seeking to organize a nationwide referendum on the issue of accepting refugees. Currently, there are more than a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland who left their country after the start of the war. But Warsaw has long opposed any resettlement of migrants – usually from Africa, Asia and the Middle East – who have made it to Greece or Italy.

“Security Obligations” for Ukraine

In addition to the migration dispute, EU leaders at the summit supported the idea of ​​adopting a “security commitment” to help Ukraine better protect itself in the future.

“The EU and Member States, together with partners, stand ready to contribute to Ukraine’s future security commitments that will help it protect itself in the long term,” the conclusions reached early Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has long advocated for Europe to play a more active role in defense, has pushed for discussions of commitments within the bloc.

However, other Union countries have indicated that it is not clear that the bloc has more to offer than it does, knowing that it mainly provides military training and weapons to Ukraine.

The announcement comes as the US, UK, France and Germany are negotiating bilateral commitments to provide equipment, training and support to Ukraine ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in two weeks.