RMF FM: Tusk clashed sharply with Sánchez over migration at EU summit

According to RMF FM, a sharp exchange on migration took place behind closed doors between Donald Tusk and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the latest summit in Brussels. Diplomats said the dispute was very heated. Sánchez defended regularising the stay of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants; Tusk objected, criticising Madrid on the grounds that such decisions could encourage illegal border crossings, with the consequences felt by other EU countries.

Poland, Italy and Denmark pushed for tougher wording on migration in the summit conclusions; most leaders backed the initiative, but France, Spain and Luxembourg were opposed, and the text could not be tightened. Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk told RMF FM that almost all countries share the proposed direction and that “it remains to convince our friends from Spain and France”.

According to unofficial information obtained by RMF FM, when Tusk briefly left the room for the Polish delegation’s office, European Council President António Costa phoned him asking him to come back: without him it was impossible to move towards decisions. Tusk advocates strict protection of the EU’s external borders, the fight against illegal migration, the deportation of foreigners who break the law and the option of a tough asylum policy.