Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said “very many” immigrants come to Europe expecting a free ride, in an interview aired Sunday on a US political affairs programme.
The comment comes against a
background of Warsaw’s accusations against Moscow that it has tried to smuggle
thousands of people from Africa into Europe by flying them to Russia and
sending them to the Polish border via Belarus.
“If someone comes over to
Poland in the false perception that one will stay here and get everything for
free and will have a better life without working, well, we do not agree to such
arrivals,” said Duda.
He was speaking to conservative
news host Sharyl Attkisson on Sinclair Television’s “Full Measure” programme.
Asked by Attkisson whether
great numbers of people were coming to Europe expecting a free ride, Duda said
“yes”.
“I think that in very many
cases, we have such a situation. That’s why there is such a reaction in the
West of Europe,” he added.
The interview was also
available online on the programme’s website.
Since summer 2021, thousands of
migrants and refugees, mainly from the Middle East, have crossed or attempted
to cross the border between Belarus — an ally of Russia — and Poland, a NATO
and EU member.
In May, Warsaw announced it
would spend more than 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) on fortifying its
eastern border with Belarus that it said Russia has used to destabilise the region
with hybrid attacks.
The following month, a Polish
soldier on patrol at the border was fatally stabbed through a five-metre-high
(16-foot) metal fence that Poland had erected in 2022.
The Polish army also reported
other attacks on troops at the border.
In July, Polish lawmakers voted
to allow the security forces to use lethal weapons in response to active
threats, including at the tense border with Belarus.
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