Tusk’s Poland Increasingly Open to Illegal Immigrants

A judgment delivered on Monday in Białystok, eastern Poland, marked a worrying turning point for the country. Five pro-migrant activists, accused of helping foreigners illegally cross the Polish border and facilitating their onward journey to Western Europe, were acquitted. The Independence March Association, which organizes the large patriotic march on November 11 in Warsaw, and the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture, both took part in the trial as social organizations. These conservative NGOs had demanded that the activists be convicted.

However, the court of first instance ruled that these far-left activists had not personally benefited from their actions and that, therefore, their assistance should be regarded as humanitarian. This reasoning, which effectively whitewashes those who facilitate illegal immigration under the guise of generosity, weakens the state in its fight against human trafficking and undermines the external border of the European Union. The signal sent to prospective migrants in Africa and the Middle East is clear: the EU’s eastern gate is open.

This jurisprudence strongly recalls the decision made in France in 2018 by the Constitutional Council, which invoked the general “principle of fraternity” enshrined in the French Republic’s motto to usurp the role of the legislator and legalize disinterested assistance to illegal immigrants. At the time, supporters of French national sovereignty denounced this as a betrayal of the spirit of republican law by an unelected body, transforming solidarity into a tool for erasing national borders.

This development in Poland is no coincidence. In both Poland and France, judges are more likely to hold progressive, left-wing views than conservative, sovereigntist ones. “Since his return to power, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has consistently acted weakly while projecting firmness in his words. It should also be remembered that, when he was still in opposition, he constantly criticized the construction of the border fence with Belarus, presented by the previous government as an essential bulwark against Minsk’s hybrid strategy of pushing migrants into Polish territory. So, whenever Donald Tusk today claims he wants to combat illegal immigration and pretends his predecessors failed in this task, the current opposition doesn’t hesitate to remind him of his own words as leader of the opposition under the Law and Justice government: “They are poor people looking for their place on earth. There’s no need for such disgusting, sinister propaganda against migrants, because these are people who need help.”

Since this former President of the European Council returned to government, the facts have confirmed this orientation. While Poland continues to resist migrants arriving from the East, its prosecutors have prosecuted border guards and military personnel who dared to use firearms to defend themselves against aggressive migrants armed with knives and poles fitted with blades, thus paralyzing their ability to act. Under Donald Tusk, Poland has also begun to accept the return of foreigners from German police, even when their transit through Poland on the way to Germany remains unclear. Since last year, more than ten thousand non-Europeans have been brought back in this way, without Warsaw raising the slightest objection. Many interpret this silence as outright submission to Berlin and as proof that Donald Tusk prefers to maintain good relations with Germany rather than defend the security of his own citizens.

In the face of such governmental inaction, Polish society has not remained passive. On the contrary, popular protests have multiplied. In July, over eighty cities — including Warsaw, Kraków, and Poznań — saw thousands of demonstrators take to the streets to say “no” to uncontrolled immigration and demand respect for Poland’s borders. Last Saturday, the Polish capital once again witnessed a new wave of mobilization. These protests bear witness to growing anger. The entry into force next year of the European Migration Pact, with its mechanism for redistributing migrants, and the Polish government’s plan to build some fifty “integration centers for foreigners” across the country, only serve to heighten public concern.

The migration issue was undoubtedly a major factor in the victory of conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki in this year’s presidential election, plunging the left-liberal coalition government into crisis. Nawrocki has promised to do everything in his power to block the implementation of the European Migration Pact and defend Polish sovereignty and identity, but in Poland the president has limited powers.

For the first time in Europe, citizens’ patrols have even been formed on the border. Civilians worried about their safety and the future of their country have organized themselves to guard the border with Germany. They have begun intercepting migrants escorted by German police, challenging the passivity of Polish border guards, alerting the media, and informing fellow citizens on social networks — refusing to see their homeland transformed into a land of massive, uncontrolled immigration, as in Western Europe.

The Tusk government’s reaction to this popular mobilization has not been to listen to the legitimate concerns of its citizens. On the contrary, it has chosen political repression. Robert Bąkiewicz, a figure in the Border Defense Movement, is being prosecuted for “insulting an officer” simply for expressing his opposition to the conduct of border guards receiving illegal immigrants from German police. This judicial persecution of a patriotic activist reveals the true intentions of a government that takes its orders from Brussels on immigration: instead of prosecuting those who violate borders, it criminalizes those who defend them.

In this context, Monday’s ruling, by exonerating the pro-migrant activists, sends a catastrophic message: smuggling illegal immigrants into Poland is no longer considered a crime, as long as it is done under the guise of humanitarian motives. This signal will inevitably attract new flows of migrants and encourage smugglers to exploit this legal loophole. Above all, it confirms that under Donald Tusk’s left-liberal government, the European Union’s eastern border is now open to illegal immigration.

This article was originally written in French for Boulevard Voltaire.