Poland’s government has sharply tightened migration policies, slashing visa issuance by 87 percent and work permits by 69 percent while tripling deportations compared to 2022, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Monday.
Tusk said the current administration had reversed what he called the “catastrophic” migration policies of the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, which he accused of issuing roughly 1 million visas annually between 2018 and 2023 and allowing some 3,000 legal migrants to enter Poland daily. He stated that under PiS, Poland had “opened its gates to all migrants more widely than any other European state” and that the eastern border was “completely porous,” with over 20,000 illegal crossings from Belarus in 2022 alone. In 2026, he reported zero illegal crossings from Belarus and a 65 percent reduction in student visas .
The prime minister also confirmed that Poland no longer accepts asylum applications, a move he said had drawn criticism from some EU capitals but which he refused to reverse. He claimed that during the latest European Council summit, Poland, Italy, and Denmark had pushed for stricter migration language in the conclusions, with most member states now citing Poland as a model for effective border control. Tusk argued that Poland’s border had become “the best-protected land border in all of Europe” and that the country would not tolerate illegal entries or violations of its laws .
Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk said Poland, Italy, and Denmark had proposed tougher migration measures at the summit, but France, Spain, and Luxembourg blocked their inclusion in the final text. He noted that “practically all member states” now support the direction proposed by the three countries and that there would be further opportunities to persuade opponents. Duszczyk added that the summit’s final conclusions included a commitment to develop EU-wide crisis response frameworks for migration pressure, incorporating Poland’s demand for the possibility of suspending asylum rights in emergencies and accounting for national specifics, such as Poland’s exposed border with Belarus .
Tusk’s stance clashed with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who advocated for legalizing the status of undocumented migrants to aid integration. Tusk countered that such policies risk encouraging illegal border crossings and endangering EU security. Diplomatic sources reported a tense exchange between the two leaders, with negotiations stalling briefly when Tusk left the room; Czech and Hungarian prime ministers refused to proceed without him, and European Council President António Costa reportedly urged his return, saying, “Without you, we won’t move forward” .
