Donald Tusk wanted the EU to back the idea that a country can invoke security reasons as justification for suspending asylum rights — and he got it.Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images

Poland wins after EU backs its proposed asylum ban for Russia, Belarus – POLITICO

· POLITICO

BRUSSELS — EU leaders on Thursday rallied behind Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s threat to temporarily ban asylum for those coming from Russia or Belarus, warning Moscow not to weaponize migrant flows to destabilize European countries.

“Russia and Belarus, or any other country, cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies,” read a statement from the European Union’s 27 leaders following their meeting in Brussels.

The statement was a win for Tusk, who last week announced that Poland would temporarily suspend asylum rights for migrants headed to his country via its border with Belarus. The influx, he said, had been orchestrated by Russia as part of “hybrid warfare” tactics designed to destabilize Poland.