The announcement came as a surprise in its radicalism, even within the ranks of the democratic coalition that has ruled Poland since December 2023, and took the nationalist opposition of the Law and Justice party (PiS) by surprise. At a party convention, the Civic Coalition (KO), on Saturday, October 12, liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk (and former President of the European Council (2014-2019)), announced that he wanted to partially suspend the right to asylum for migrants entering the country illegally and that he would ask the European Union (EU) "to endorse this measure." "We are not going to respect or apply any European idea that... violates our security and I'm thinking here of the 'migration pact' [adopted by the EU in May]."

The announcement caused surprise and consternation within the Democratic coalition, and an outcry from human rights organizations. Members of the United Left party and the Christian Democrats of Poland 2050 claimed they were not consulted beforehand, and many voiced their disagreement with the idea.

On Monday, October 14, around 50 civil society organizations, including most of the rule of law associations that support the government's policy of restoring democratic standards after eight years of populist governance, appealed to the prime minister, pointing out that such a measure would be contrary to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Polish constitution.

"We would like to remind you that the right to asylum is a human right," said the Polish branch of Amnesty International. "The unjustified suspension of this right, even temporarily, is unacceptable and contradicts, among other things, the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Since autumn 2021, Poland has been facing a crisis on its eastern border, along which the Russian and Belarusian regimes have organized a new migration route through the forests of Podlaskie, fed by vast networks from Russian consulates in Africa and the Middle East. From Warsaw's point of view, this use of immigration for political destabilization is seen as a "hybrid war" waged by both regimes. "We all know how this situation is being used by [Belarusian leader] Alexander Lukashenko, by Putin, by human smugglers and traffickers, to what extent the right of asylum is being exploited in a way that is exactly contrary to its essence," Tusk said on Saturday.

Polish officials regularly complain that this specific reality is "misunderstood" by European partners, who equate it with a facet of the migration crisis in southern Europe. "The Belorussian border is not the same situation as Lampedusa," said a senior government official a short while ago. "We have migrants here who have been trained by the Belarusian regime to violently provoke our border guards." Despite the construction of a 400-kilometer wall along the border by the previous government, there are recurring incidents.

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