Following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Belgium, Poland became the latest European country to suspend its refugee program, citing security concerns.
“I say very clearly that I see no possibility at this time of immigrants coming to Poland,” Prime Minister Beata Szydło said on Wednesday.
The move is a sharp turn from her predecessor’s stance on immigration. Ewa Kopacz had agreed to accept 7,000 asylum seekers at the onset of the European refugee crisis.
But a spokesperson for Szydlo said going forward the government must put the interest of its citizens before others. Nearly two-thirds of Poles want the country’s borders closed to refugees at the present time, according to a recent poll.
“Until procedures to verify the refugees are put in action, we cannot accept them,” Rafał Bochenek, a government spokesman, said Wednesday. “The priority of the government is the safety of Poles … We understand the previous government … signed commitments which bind our country. We cannot allow a situation in which events taking place in the countries of Western Europe are carried over to the territory of Poland.”
Poland joins its ally Hungary in its long-standing decision to block refugees.
