Polish president says no asylum for irregular migrants plan ‘fatal mistake’

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk pauses as he speaks, during a news conference following his meeting with Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte at the government’s headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

Polish President Andrzej Duda has condemned the government’s plan for a temporary suspension of the right to asylum for irregular migrants, calling it a “fatal mistake” and signalling he will not approve it.

Mr Duda argued in a speech in parliament that the plan would block access to safe haven for Belarusians and Russians opposed to their governments in Minsk and Moscow.