Poland initiated a referendum on immigration: Ukrainian refugees overwhelmed the country

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wants to hold a referendum on the EU immigration plan. Polish voters will be asked if they want to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants” under the new rules proposed from Brussels.

Poland’s right-wing nationalist prime minister has said he will hold a referendum on EU migration reforms that will ask voters if they are ready to accept “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa.”

According to The Guardian, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced in a video posted online on Sunday that the referendum would coincide with the October 15 parliamentary elections. Migration and security will be central to the election as Morawiecki’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party seeks to retain power.

The PiS campaign to extend its eight-year rule kicked off last Thursday when Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on public radio that he was deploying 10,000 troops “closer to the border with Belarus to scare the aggressor so that he does not dare to attack us.”

This paranoid statement came after Belarusian military helicopters were accused by Warsaw of violating Polish airspace last week and Wagner Group fighters set up camp in Belarus. Warsaw interpreted these steps as a direct “provocation”, citing them as growing evidence of the “threat” that Minsk supposedly poses to Poland and the entire European Union.

Morawiecki’s ultra-nationalist government has long objected to EU plans to distribute migrants evenly among its members, sharing responsibility for people entering the bloc without permission. The deal was formally approved by EU interior ministers in June, despite objections from some members, including Hungary and Poland in particular.

Morawiecki said the referendum would ask a specific question: “Do you support the acceptance of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced resettlement mechanism introduced by the European bureaucracy?”

His video included scenes of street violence in Western Europe involving buildings and vehicles on fire, a nod to the recent riots in France. In one scene, a black man is seen licking a large knife. The photos are accompanied by the voice of PiS leader Jarosław Kaczynski, who asks: “Do you want this to happen in Poland too? Do you want to stop being masters of your own country?”

The nationalist PiS party is drawing increasing attention to the growing number of migrants from Africa and the Middle East entering Poland through Belarus, which The Guardian notes is a non-EU member and with which Poland shares a 400km border. There have been about 19,000 border crossing attempts so far this year, compared to 16,000 for all of 2022.

Currently, the border is guarded by about 2,000 Polish soldiers and 5,000 border guards. Part of the border is protected by a 186 km metal wall.

At the same time, The Guardian notes, Poland has granted asylum to more than 1 million Ukrainians, who are mostly white and Christian. But for years – especially during the height of the 2015 refugee crisis – political leaders have spoken out against the admission of Muslims and other multicultural people, arguing that they threaten the country’s cultural identity and security.

The upcoming referendum will also ask voters other questions on other topics, including whether they support raising the retirement age, which has been lowered to 60 for women and 65 for men, and privatizing state-owned enterprises. At a recent political rally in Chełm, near the Ukrainian border, Kaczynski said EU-led privatization of forests would prevent Poles from picking mushrooms, a popular national pastime. The peak of the mushroom picking season coincides with the date of the survey.

Kaczynski said: “We have this freedom. We can go picking mushrooms… This is part of our freedom, and we will not allow that freedom to be stolen from us.”

Political scientists have compared the anti-European rhetoric of the Polish leader with the slogans “Take back control” used by Brexit supporters in the UK.

Kaczynski is also reinforcing the anti-German sentiment his party has used to solidify its base since its founding in 2001, along with themes such as misogyny, homophobia, security concerns and racism. He said that Germany should be forced to pay Poland 1.3 trillion euros in reparations for Nazi war crimes during World War II. Berlin rejected these demands.

Kaczynski cited Poland’s devastating experience during the Nazi and Soviet era as justification for Poles’ fears and demands.

He said at a rally in Chełm: “Do you know who has the most influence in Brussels? Exactly Germany. And we would be forced to move from life under one boot from the east to another boot from the west.”