The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, who has far-right ideologies, has announced that a referendum will be held in which voters will be asked whether they are willing to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa”. Morawiecki announced that the referendum on the European Union (EU) immigration reforms will coincide with the parliamentary elections to be held on 15 October 2023.[1] It is known that Morawiecki’s Law and Justice Party (PIS) is trying to hold power. In this process, it can be said that migration and security will be the main topics of the election.
The effort of PIS to extend its eight-year rule began with the announcement of Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on 10 August 2023 that 10,000 soldiers would be put on the Belarusian border. [2] The statement in question came after Belarusian military helicopters breached Polish airspace and Wagner group mercenaries set up camp in Belarus. [3] Warsaw interprets these moves as a direct provocation and shows them as growing evidence of the threat created by Minsk to Poland and the EU.
The EU tries to distribute migrants equally among its member states and to share the responsibility of those who enter the bloc without permission. The Morawiecki Government has been against these plans for a long time. Despite the objections of some members, especially Hungary and Poland, the agreement was officially approved by the EU Interior Ministers in June.
Morawiecki said that the following question will be asked in the referendum:[4]
“Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced deportation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?”
The video released by Morawiecki features burning buildings, vehicles, and street violence in Western Europe as a reference to the recent riots in France. The speech of Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PIS, is placed in the background of the pictures in question. In the video, Morawiecki asks, “Do you want this to happen in Poland as well? Do you want to stop being the master of your own country?”[5]
Morawiecki’s party seeks to draw attention to the growing number of African and Middle Eastern immigrants entering Poland via Belarus, which is not a member of the EU and with which Poland shares a 400 km border. In 2022, a total of 16,000 crossings were made to the country. This year, about 19,000 transition attempts have already been made. Currently, about 2,000 Polish soldiers and 5,000 border guards guard the border. Part of the border is protected by a 186 km metal wall.
In total, Poland granted asylum to more than 1 million Ukrainians. However, for years, especially at the height of the 2015 Refugee Crisis, political leaders have objected to hosting Muslims and other peoples of different cultures on the grounds that it threatens the country’s cultural identity and security.
In the forthcoming referendum, voters will also be asked questions such as whether they support raising the retirement age, which was lowered to 60 for women and 65 for men, and whether they support the privatization of state-owned enterprises. At a historic political rally in Chełm, near the Ukrainian border, Kaczynski said that EU-led privatization of forests would prevent Poles from collecting mushrooms, a popular national pastime. The peak of the mushroom picking season coincides with the voting date. This raises question marks about the rate of participation in the election in question.
Kaczynski said this about this topic: [6]
“We have this freedom. We can go mushroom picking… It’s part of our freedom and we won’t let that freedom be taken away from us.”
Particularly by political analysts, the Polish leader’s anti-EU rhetoric is compared with the “Take back control” slogans used by pro-Brexit campaigners in the UK. Kaczynski brings up issues such as security fears and racism, as well as the anti-German rhetoric that his party has used to support its base since its establishment in 2001.
For example, Kaczynski said that Germany should be forced to pay Poland 1.3 trillion euros in compensation for Nazi war crimes during the Second World War. [7] Germany refused the demands. Kaczynski cites the devastating life experiences of Poland under Nazi and Soviet rule as the justification for the fears and demands of the Poles. As a result, it can be argued that as long as Poland’s administration with far-right ideologies continues, the tension and disagreements between the EU and Warsaw will not decrease.
[1] “Polish Prime Minister to Hold Referendum on EU’s Immigration Plan”, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/13/polish-prime-minister-to-hold-referendum-on-eus-immigration-plan, (Date of Access: 14.08.2023).
[2] “Polish PM Morawiecki Seeks Referendum on Irregular Migration”, Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/14/polish-pm-morawiecki-seeks-referendum-on-irregular-migration, (Date of Access: 14.08.2023).
[3] Same one.
[4] Same one.
[5] Same one.
[6] Same one.
[7] “Poland Demands $1.3 Trillion War Reparations from Germany”, Associated Press News, https://apnews.com/article/poland-germany-world-war-ii-warsaw-49b0cf77745a7b1cabfaa884c3bf0035, (Date of access: 14.08.2023).
