Poland does not agree that the EC should recommend how many immigrants it should take on, said Deputy Interior Minister Piotr Stachańczyk.

The European Commission has recommended that Poland takes on some 2700 immigrants of Syrian and Eritrean origin from Italy and Greece to alleviate the situation from the two EU nations.

“There were voices of countries which fully accepted these proposals. There were also countries which – I must admit Poland belongs to this group – which want to have a say on how many [refugees] they can accept and based on their own decisions,” Stachańczyk told reporters in Brussels .

“We do not agree [that] someone counted and then sent a calculated number of refugees to individual European countries," the deputy minister added.

“The acceptance of refugees should be applied on a voluntary basis,” argued Interior Ministry spokesperson Małgorzata Wożniak in an interview with Polish Radio.

She said that the ministry is maintaining its previously aired position that each member state should decide according to its capabilities. (rg)

Source: PAP

