Thread: Britain can learn from Poland’s rejection of illegal migration and globalisation

Britain can learn from Poland’s rejection of illegal migration and globalisation



Steven Edginton
Thu, October 12, 2023 at 11:41 AM EDT·4 min read



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Poland is at a political crossroads: on Sunday voters will decide on both the future of the conservative Law and Justice Party government and whether to accept migrant quotas from the European Union.

The latter vote will be held in the form of a referendum, where Poles are asked:

“Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by European bureaucracy?”.

The question may be biased – many in the opposition parties have pledged to boycott the vote. But it will serve as a weather vane for Polish attitudes both on Brussels and migration.

In a film for The Telegraph, I went to the Polish-Belarusian border to find out how locals plan to vote in the upcoming referendum.

Everyone I spoke to in the border town was firmly against illegal migration; one woman even said she felt unsafe when migrants came through her property during the border crisis in 2021.

After the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko threatened to flood Europe with migrants in 2021 thousands of people from the Middle East attempted to enter Poland via Belarus. Since then the government has built a fence with accompanying drones and high-tech cameras to monitor the border, which has been largely successful at preventing crossings.

The Belarusian affair alerted Poles to an issue those in European border states have had to contend with for years. The vote will likely represent a firm rejection of the liberal immigration policies that have led to conflict and division across the continent.

Poland’s experience has historically been emigration, not immigration, though as the nation grows richer, Warsaw will likely become as much a magnet for economic migrants as Paris and London have been for decades.

So far Poland has largely been a transit country for those searching for work and generous welfare in Germany and France. However, Law and Justice has faced criticism from its Right-wing rival, the Confederation, for handing out thousands of work visas to non-European migrants from Asia and Africa in the last eight years.

The cries against legal mass migration are already being sounded, though if the centre-Left opposition win on Sunday, Poland may join western Europe in dabbling with the multicultural experiment.

After the horrific attacks on Jewish civilians over the weekend, the Israeli embassies in Britain and Poland witnessed contrasting scenes: in London the building was blocked off over security concerns, whilst pro-Palestinian protests raged around Kensington; in Warsaw the embassy was open, quiet and peaceful.

If Britain has experienced benefits from diversity and multiculturalism, which are greatly lauded over by politicians of all stripes, then Poland can surely boast that their largely homogenous society has some advantages too. One feels completely safe walking the streets of even the roughest parts of Warsaw; the same cannot be said of London.

The campaign has also seen Law and Justice ramp up its rhetoric against Brussels and Berlin. The party claims Europe’s Western leaders are attempting to impose unwanted liberalism on the socially conservative nation.

The general election has thus become a vote on Poland’s future in Europe: do Poles wish to maintain their sovereignty and homogeneity, or will they follow their Western neighbours down the paths of globalisation and multiculturalism?

Some are tempted by the West’s relative prosperity, and argue that to replicate their economic success Poland must adopt these latter ideological approaches.

But Law and Justice have proved that an alternative is surely available. The party can boast of strong economic growth, relatively little immigration compared with Western Europe, and maintaining an independent voice within the European Union. There are problems, increases in inflation and debt being two, and young Poles, in particular women, are increasingly tempted by socially liberal attitudes.

It was surprising, and quite encouraging, to speak with so many young Poles who support the right-wing Confederation. Though some in the conservative group are undoubtedly cranks, most are economically liberal and socially conservative. They demand lower and simpler taxes, lower migration and are sceptical of Brussels.

If opinion polls are to be believed, Law and Justice are on track to continue governing Poland, and voters will reject the migrant quotas from Brussels. Despite mistakes, after eight years in power Law and Justice have proved it is possible to govern from a conservative perspective and be rewarded by voters.

Meanwhile the Tories, who are nearly indistinguishable from their Labour counterparts, face electoral oblivion next year. Perhaps their next leader can learn a thing or two from the Poles.





https://www.yahoo.com/news/britain-l...154147021.html