Sent to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, one of the letter’s main concerns refers to migrants crossing into Poland from Belarus.
Deputy head of Poland’s Interior Ministry Maciej Duszczyk said in a video posted on X: “The orchestrated migration from Belarus, Russia, which we are dealing with not only on the Polish border… is a topic that the European Union will have to prioritize in the near future.
“What is particularly important for us in this letter is that it says very clearly that the recently adopted pact is only the beginning of the discussion on how to meet the challenges of migration at the community level, and this discussion will continue,”.
Priority issues
One of the key issues raised in the letter concerns people who have been transferred from a non-EU coastal state, to which they have traveled by land or have been brought as a result of a rescue operation on the high seas.
“Those not in need of international protection would then be returned to their country of origin or previous country of residence, or offered other legal options to stay in a safe third country,” the letter proposed.
The letter, which includes signatures from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Finland, and Poland, also draws attention to the return center mechanism.
“This initiative would assume that third-country nationals [a citizen of a state that is not a member of the EU] whose application for international protection in the EU has been rejected could be transferred to a non-EU partner country. They would be accommodated in that country pending their return to their country of origin,” the letter states.
Illegal migration routes
The ministers also highlighted the necessity for comprehensive partnerships with third countries, similar to the EU-Turkey agreement.
“This involves countries that would take the necessary measures to stop illegal migration to the EU. New migrants arriving in the EU would be returned to the third country in question, with due respect for international obligations,” the letter states.
They added that EU member states should be provided with the ability to effectively process applications, transfer, or return third-country nationals who are not in need of international protection or who can obtain or find protection in third countries.
The letter also raises the issue of the weaponization of migrants.
“An effective legal framework is also needed to address the instrumentalization of migrants. Efforts should be made to provide fixed and mobile infrastructure to effectively protect the EU's external border,” the letter says.
The letter also emphasizes the need to tackle migrant smuggling.
“To combat migrant smuggling, it is necessary to continue adopting new legal frameworks and strengthening cooperation at EU level and with key third countries on agreed actions,” it states.
Migration pact provisions
On May 14, EU finance ministers gave final approval to the migration pact, with Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary opposing it.
The pact is intended to comprehensively regulate migration issues in the European Union, including issues related to assistance provided to countries under migration pressure.
The new regulations distribute responsibility for managing migration in the Union among all member states. This includes a compulsory solidarity mechanism, which entails sending 30,000 migrants per year to each country.
Alternatively, EU countries will be able to pay €20,000 for each migrant not accepted or take part in operations at the EU’s external borders.
After the adoption of the pact, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the pact was negotiated by the previous government.
Tusk said at the time that his government had succeeded in obtaining such provisions in the migration pact that make it “much less threatening in terms of consequences than at the beginning.”
Tusk asserted that the pact in its current form “gives Poland the opportunity to avoid any negative consequences” and that Poland “will not accept any migrants because of it.”
