The Polish government on Tuesday unveiled a new migration strategy, including temporarily halting asylum for migrants entering Poland via the country’s eastern border with Belarus.

EU leaders who gathered in Brussels on Thursday for an EU summit adopted unanimous conclusions on migration.

The EU council said in a statement: “Russia and Belarus, or any other country, cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies.

“The European Council expresses its solidarity with Poland and with Member States facing these challenges. Exceptional situations require appropriate measures.”

It added: “The European Council recalls its determination to ensure effective control of the Union’s external borders through all available means, including with the support of the European Union, in line with EU and international law.”

The issue of migration was raised at the summit by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who presented his government’s new migration strategy to other EU leaders.

Poland has been grappling with a migrant crisis since 2021, with both Warsaw and the EU accusing Belarus and its ally Russia of orchestrating the situation by funneling people from the Middle East and Africa to Poland’s eastern border.

In many European countries, centrists like Tusk have adopted more hardline policies on migration in a bid to fend off nationalist and far-right opponents.