Head of the parliamentary commission for relations with Poles abroad Michał Dworczyk
Polish deputies unanimously adopted the amendments to the law prepared by the parliamentary commission for relations with Poles abroad. The new law is intended to help people of Polish origin living in the territory of the former USSR to come to Poland and settle here permanently.
On the air of Polskie Radio, the amendments to the law on the Pole's Card and their significance were commented on by the head of the parliamentary commission for relations with Poles abroad, deputy of the Law and Justice party, Michał Dworczyk.
– The amendments to the law on the Pole's Card state that in extraordinary situations, when the life and health of people of Polish origin living in Eastern Europe are under threat, they will be able to enjoy the same rights as Polish citizens. What is an "extraordinary situation" and do all parliamentary factions agree with this approach?
– Extraordinary or emergency situations are events like those we encountered, for example, over the past year, when we evacuated our compatriots from Donbas and Mariupol. Then we certainly could see that there are no grounds in Polish legislation to treat our compatriots who have the Pole's Card as Polish citizens, to provide them with necessary assistance. There were no legal grounds to provide this assistance effectively, quickly, and efficiently.
We are changing this state of affairs. This is just one of the changes provided for by the amendments to the law. In fact, I think that, besides listing the changes in order, it is necessary to pay attention to one issue. For the first time, we want to treat our compatriots from Eastern Europe as subjects, to tell them: if you want to stay on the land of your fathers, your ancestors, we will help you in your countries of residence. And if you want to come to Poland and stay here forever, we will create this opportunity for you.
– What about the law on repatriation? This is a "serial" we have been hearing about for a long time, the previous Sejm also worked on it. What about Poles who might want to return to Poland en masse? Will legal grounds be created for this?
– These provisions are currently being created. Prime Minister Beata Szydło presented the basic principles of the law on repatriation on the 100th day of the government, and intensive work is now underway. I recently spoke with representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and I know that these provisions are being finalized. I am sure that they will soon go to interministerial discussions and then be submitted to the Sejm. But if you are talking about a mass arrival of Poles from abroad to Poland, I would like to point out that one of the amendments to the law on the Pole's Card allows all our compatriots who want to come to Poland on the basis of this document and stay here to do so. One year after arrival they will be able to obtain Polish citizenship, and during the first year of life in Poland, for the first 9 months, they will receive monthly financial assistance of about 120 euros.
What does this mean? It means that according to calculations by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, over 10 years we can expect about 100,000 Poles from Eastern Europe to come to Poland. On one hand, this is the fulfillment of the moral duty that the Polish state has towards our compatriots in Eastern European countries. We must create an opportunity for them to come to their homeland, their fatherland. On the other hand, it is a small step towards solving the demographic problems of our country.
– How painful are these decisions for Poland's relations with Ukraine, Russia, and Lithuania?
– I must note that these decisions provoked emotions, some kind of tension in certain groups, and it was a short-term tension, if I may say so. When we adopted the law on the Pole's Card in 2007, we received signals from our neighbors regarding some doubts about this law. But that is already in the past. Probably in the past everywhere, except for bilateral relations with Belarus, which is not a democratic country and where those who receive the Pole's Card are still treated poorly. Moreover, a law was passed there that restricts access to this document for certain professional groups. One should also recall the incidents in Lithuania, where from time to time Lithuanian nationalists bring this topic up for discussion, especially before election campaigns.
There are no more signals that this is a problem. Moreover, I can give an example from Ukraine, where local authorities actively inquired at the Polish embassy why one Ukrainian citizen did not receive the Pole's Card. Therefore, it is difficult to speak of a negative attitude. Rather, this document is increasingly used by residents of the former Soviet Union.