Author: Wojciech Dzięgiel

The publication by the Government of the Republic of Poland of a new Migration Strategy for 2025–2030 (hereinafter: Migration Strategy), adopted by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on October 15, 2024, not coincidentally came six months after the European Union adopted a set of 9 legal acts appearing under the name of the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum. Poland opposed many of the Pact’s proposed legal acts at the stage of negotiations (2020–2023) and remains opposed to them after their adoption by a qualified majority in the EU Council.

Poland’s Migration Strategy remains in line with the assumptions of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, at least in discourse. The Polish proposal does not assume a priori need to confront the migratory pressure, which has been increasing for many years, but rather proposes to control — or even, in certain situations, limit — the number of migrant influxes. The announcement of the Migration Strategy is also part of the European Commission’s work on a new Visa Strategy, to be announced in late 2025. And, while it is expected to set visa policy trends, it is enough to note that, in the first half of 2024, about 25% of applications for international protection in European Union countries were made by applicants who entered Schengen under visa-free travel. Therefore, visa liberalization, or lack thereof, directly affects asylum policy and should be considered as one of its essential elements.

Author: Wojciech Dzięgiel, Director of the Energy Security and Resilience Program, Member of the Board of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation.