Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposed holding a referendum asking citizens whether they support the arrival of “thousands of illegal migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa” under the European Union’s relocation policy.
In a video posted on social networks on Sunday, Morawiecki floated the idea of holding a poll, to be conducted along with the parliamentary election scheduled for October 15.
Morawiecki’s ruling Law and Justice Party is well-known for its extremely restrictive position on immigration from Muslim and African countries — while being accepting of refugees from European countries such as Ukraine.
Morawiecki’s video paints a grim scenario in case more migrants were allowed into Poland, showing images of burning cars, street violence and a black man licking a knife.
The full question Morawiecki said Poles should answer in the proposed referendum is: “Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?” — a phrasing that implicitly takes a shot at leading opposition politician and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who is also critically featured in the video.
In the past few days, Law and Justice unveiled two other questions it plans to put to a direct vote: one on the privatization of state-owned companies and the other one focused on the retirement age.
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