The European Commission reminded Poland on Monday that EU countries are obliged by EU law to offer asylum seekers access to settlement procedures.
In a major announcement over the weekend, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his government plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a new migration strategy.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of pushing migrants to the Polish border in order to destabilize the 27-member EU and undermine security.
A commission spokeswoman acknowledged that Russia and Belarus have put “a lot of pressure” over the past three years on the bloc’s borders.
But she said the EU nevertheless maintains the obligation for EU countries to ensure access to asylum procedures.
The spokeswoman said it was possible to prevent countries such as Russia and Belarus from manipulating migration and using it as a weapon against EU members without suspending the asylum rights.
There should be increased cooperation and solidarity within the EU in crisis situations to achieve this, she said.
If Poland decides to suspend the asylum rules, Warsaw could invoke Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
This is interpreted to mean that member states can deviate from EU rules in exceptional cases in order to maintain public order and protect internal security.
However, it is not legally clear how serious the situation must be for this to be the case.
