A judgment delivered on Monday in Białystok, eastern Poland, marked a worrying turning point for the country. Five pro-migrant activists, accused of helping foreigners illegally cross the Polish border and facilitating their onward journey to Western Europe, were acquitted. The Independence March Association, which organizes the large patriotic march on November 11 in Warsaw, and the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture, both took part in the trial as social organizations. These conservative NGOs had demanded that the activists be convicted.
However, the court of first instance ruled that these far-left activists had not personally benefited from their actions and that, therefore, their assistance should be regarded as humanitarian. This reasoning, which effectively whitewashes those who facilitate illegal immigration under the guise of generosity, weakens the state in its fight against human trafficking and undermines the external border of the European Union. The signal sent to prospective migrants in Africa and the Middle East is clear: the EU’s eastern gate is open.
This jurisprudence strongly recalls the decision made in France in 2018 by the Constitutional Council, which invoked the general “principle of fraternity” enshrined in the French Republic’s motto to usurp the role of the legislator and legalize disinterested assistance to illegal immigrants. At the time, supporters of French national sovereignty denounced this as a betrayal of the spirit of republican law by an unelected body, transforming solidarity into a tool for erasing national borders.
This development in Poland is no coincidence. In both Poland and France, judges are more likely to hold progressive, left-wing views than conservative, sovereigntist ones. “Since his return to power, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has consistently acted weakly while projecting firmness in his words. It should also be remembered that, when he was still in opposition, he constantly criticized the construction of the border fence with Belarus, presented by the previous government as an essential bulwark against Minsk’s hybrid strategy of pushing migrants into Polish territory. So, whenever Donald Tusk today claims he wants to combat illegal immigration and pretends his predecessors failed in this task, the current opposition doesn’t hesitate to remind him of his own words as leader of the opposition under the Law and Justice government: “They are poor people looking for their place on earth. There’s no need for such disgusting, sinister propaganda against migrants, because these are people who need help.”
Hellbound and Down 