Things change. Sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the worse, but
always in the eyes of the beholder.
Wednesday provides a case in point.
In the wake of the ISIS attacks in Brussels, Poland’s prime
minister, Beata Szydlo, cancelled Poland’s agreement with the EU to
accept Syrian refugees. “We can’t allow for events in western Europe to
happen in Poland,” said Szydlo.
This change of heart is good for everyone except German chancellor Angela
Merkel.
Bloomberg reports Poland Abandons Pledge to Shelter Refugees After Brussels
Blasts.
Poland abandoned a pledge to shelter migrants under a European Union
relocation agreement, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said, shifting her
country’s stance a day after suicide bombers killed dozens of people in the
bloc’s de-facto capital.
“I will be very clear: at the moment, I don’t see a possibility for
migrants to come to Poland,” Szydlo told Superstacja TV on Wednesday. Her
spokesman, Rafal Bochenek, later told journalists that the government “can’t
allow for events in western Europe to happen in Poland.”
Poland’s about-face is a blow to pledges made last year to shelter a
planned 160,000 refugees in the EU and a deal sealed last week to reduce the
flow of refugees arriving on member Greece’s shores from Turkey. Under the new
agreement, each Syrian refugee who makes it to the Aegean state will be sent
back to Turkey and put at the end of a waiting list for entry, while another
person on the waiting in a camp there will be admitted to the bloc. Some
857,000 survived the Aegean passage in 2015, and more than 144,000 have
crossed so far this year.
It is very unfortunate that it took another huge bombing incident for
Poland to wake up to the risks, but at least Poland did wake up. Other
nations will follow.
Any person who still favors letting Turkey into the EU, a move that would
give nearly 80 million Muslim citizens open travel throughout the region, has
serious problems thinking clearly.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
