Why does Poland want to ban the migration pact?
Last week, EU member states finally reached a consensus on the New Pact on Asylum and Migration, which seeks to streamline the management of incoming asylum seekers and distribute responsibility for hosting newcomers more evenly across the bloc.This week on Beyond the Byline, we dig into the controversy around the bill. Whilst many 'frontline' migration countries, such as Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, hailed it as a historic agreement, the vote passed with a majority, not unanimity. Two countries - Hungary and Poland - voted against it.Warsaw's main opposition to the pact centres around the so-called solidarity mechanism, which implements a quota-based system for hosting refugees, with financial penalties if member states refuse. Now, Poland is seeking to build a blocking coalition in the European Parliament to halt the pact's approval.