EU To Sue Poland If It Refuses To Implement Migration Pact

A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed that Brussels will take legal action against member states who refuse or fail to fully implement the Migration Pact, including its mandatory solidarity mechanism of migrant relocations, and Poland is no exception.

The clarification came a week after press reports pointed out the awkward silence from the EU Commission when Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak reiterated liberal PM Donald Tusk’s earlier remarks that implementing the Pact was “not possible.”

Siemoniak pointed at the large number of Ukrainian refugees living in Poland (who are not covered by the Migration Pact) and said that the solidarity mechanism—giving member states the choice between accepting a certain number of migrants or paying €20,000 per migrant each year—was an “additional burden” that the country will not accept:

Irrespective of who says that [we should implement the Pact], my response is Poland will not accept an additional burden. Full stop.

The Commission’s initial inability to address this comment was not too surprising, given that Tusk has been a key ally of von der Leyen’s for years, and Brussels has been celebrating his takeover of Poland despite the blatant rule of law violations associated with his “transitional justice” (i.e., lawfare and persecution) targeting the conservative opposition.

However, after media outlets had been speculating for a week, the Commission was forced to clarify its position. “Once adopted, EU law is binding in all concerned member states,” the spokesperson said on Monday.

If a member state risks delaying or even undermining the implementation of the Pact, the Commission will need to take the necessary measures.