The European Union has agreed to temporarily exempt Poland, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Estonia from the obligation to accept migrants.
This is reported by Polish Radio, citing EU interior ministers.
The ministers, who met in Brussels, explained the decision by saying that Poland spends a lot of money on securing its eastern border with Belarus and has already taken in a significant number of refugees from Ukraine.
The decision applies only to next year, but diplomatic circles in Poland and the EU believe that it will be extended.
Warsaw has long sought an exemption from the solidarity mechanism. Under EU rules, bloc members either accept some of the migrants or pay €20 000 for each person they refuse to admit to their country.
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kirwiński said the mechanism recognizes Poland as a party experiencing migratory pressure in relation to its support for Ukraine. He expects the permit to remain in force for many years.
He also said that the discussion during the meeting was tense, as not all European countries were happy with these decisions — particularly countries in southern Europe.
- In September 2025, the number of Ukrainians who received temporary protection in the European Union countries became the highest in the last two years. According to Eurostat, 79 205 Ukrainians received asylum in the EU countries, which is 49% more than in August.
- As of the end of September, 4.3 million Ukrainians with temporary protection are in the EU. Most of them live in Germany — 1.2 million refugees, and in Poland — about a million.
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