Immigration skepticism goes mainstream in Europe
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Immigration is the most vexing political problem in Europe these days and guess what: It’s no longer a preoccupation only of the so-called far right. This weekend centrist Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk became the latest European leader to try to slam the Continent’s gates shut.
Mr. Tusk announced that Poland soon will stop accepting asylum applications from new border crossers. Several thousand migrants, often from the Middle East and Africa, attempt to enter Poland every month.
Yes, the same Poland that is nowhere near the Middle East or Africa. Many of these are economic migrants. But once on Polish soil they can short-circuit the normal process of obtaining a work visa while still in their home country by applying instead for asylum.
Claiming persecution in home countries triggers a long and expensive legal process to evaluate the claim during which they can stay in Europe, often at taxpayer expense. Mr. Tusk is especially concerned that Belarus, in thrall to its patrons in the Kremlin, is encouraging migration flows to destabilize a stalwart North Atlantic Treaty Organization member.
He’s right. The Belarusian regime of Alexander Lukashenko, presumably in cahoots with people-smuggling gangs, actively ushers migrants to the Polish border. Finland this year also has cracked down on such “weaponized migration" across its border with Russia.
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