"Poland wants return on migration". German diary on what will change border controls

natemat.pl 10 hours ago

Do controls on the Polish-German border worsen relations between the 2 countries? On the contrary: Poles have always considered German "open borders policy naive" – writes the diary "Die Welt".

The German paper "Die Welt" wonders on Thursday, July 10, how bilateral checks on the Polish-German border will affect relations between both countries. Philipp Fritz, a Warsaw journalist, points out that there is simply a group of people who are worried about interstate relations, considering that the checks first introduced by Germany in 2023 unnecessarily burdened already hard relations with Poland.

Bad image of Germany in Poland

According to the publicist, however, this is not the case. "Those who are shouting now frequently silent erstwhile the Nord Stream gas pipeline was being built or erstwhile German atomic power plants were shut off the network, and German state politicians then criticized Polish gradual beginning to atomic power. These are only 3 of the many events in fresh years that have contributed to the bad image of Germany in Poland" – Fritz says.

"Open Borders Policy"

According to the commentator "Die Welt", what affected Poles' assurance in Germany was a German migration policy conducted since 2015. The criticism of "open borders policies" was treated in Poland – according to the author – as naive and anti-European.

"This stand goes beyond organization boundaries and is represented by both the liberal-conservative Tusk and the national-conservative organization of Law and Justice (PiS), which expresses all this with typical anti-German rage" – we read.

From the position of Poland, Germany is to attract migrants from outside the EU with generous social benefits, even for those who have not been granted asylum. The writer recalls that Poland is in a peculiar situation – since 2021 the Belarusian dictator Alaksandr Lukashenka deliberately pushes migrants across the border with Poland.

"Many politicians in Warsaw believe that 'migration as a weapon' in the 'hybrid war' against Poland is only possible due to the fact that Europe, and in peculiar Germany, have been besides lenient about illegal migration for a long time. The claim that random checks at the Polish-German border worsen relations between the 2 countries is so simple. Earlier past is ignored" – we read.

The Most crucial Subject of the Law and Justice

According to the author, Poland's policy is full of contradictions. Since 2015, Polish governments have been demanding Germany to change its migration policy, while complaining about border controls. Philipp Fritz points out that Donald Tusk is under interior force in the country.

"PiS and its close media have made the Polish-German border the most crucial subject and accuses Tusk of surrendering to Germans," he writes.

The publicist doubts that fewer immigrants who were returned to Poland will be able to stay in Poland. It predicts that migrants will effort again to get to Germany, and if they fail, they will cross the green border.

Do not quit control

Fritz points out that Poland, erstwhile carrying out checks besides with Lithuania, can force a stronger border policy on the country and Latvia.

"The decision of Warsaw can now force them to safe their external borders more powerfully – as Poland does to counter the migration crisis artificially caused by Belarus and Russia on its east border," writes the commentator.

According to the publicist, border controls should not be resigned for the time being. Instead, they should be coordinated with their neighbours until the external borders of Europe are better secured and the common asylum policy enters into force. The controls, according to the author, are besides a reaction to the "aggressive policy of authoritarian regimes towards Europe", which usage immigrants against Europe.

"Poland, but besides those countries that do not themselves safe the EU's external borders, cannot accept this. In this context, a return to the position quo ante in terms of migration policy would be more harmful to relations between Germany and Poland than anything that can be observed at the border between the 2 countries" - the author emphasises.