Officials and analysts in Warsaw outline concerns over border control, EU authority, and long-term demographic trends
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
European policymakers and researchers convened in Warsaw to address mounting concerns over migration trends and demographic shifts, with several participants arguing that current policies are inadequate to manage the scale and impact of population changes across the continent.
The discussion centered on findings from a policy paper, “Taking Back Control from Brussels. The Renationalization of the EU Migration and Asylum Policies.”, presented during an event hosted by the Ordo Iuris Institute. The report outlines proposals aimed at restoring greater authority over migration decisions to individual European Union member states.
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Rodrigo Ballester, head of the Center for European Studies at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, told attendees that Europe faces significant demographic challenges and criticized existing frameworks used to regulate migration.
“As Europeans, we are committing demographic suicide. We are a continent of old rich people, facing a continent of young, hungry, and determined people — ambitious people. We’re still trying to manage migration with hopelessly outdated tools, using conventions from a century ago. They have completely lost their meaning today. In practice, I’m talking about the Geneva Convention. This is the ‘sacred cow’ we should get rid of,” Ballester said.
The policy paper, also examined in a related analysis outlining 18 proposed measures to reverse EU migration trends, calls for accelerated implementation of reforms that would shift decision-making authority back to national governments.
Speakers at the event compared differing national experiences with migration. Polish sociologist and former Member of the European Parliament Zdzisław Krasnodębski contrasted conditions in Warsaw with those in Bremen, Germany, where he previously worked.
“How did it happen that such a process, which is suicidal, was supported by societies for years? I can tell you that I know two such cities well. One was poor and large, and people were moving away from it. It was Warsaw. Warsaw was also White, if I may use that term. The other city (Bremen) was well-off, middle-class, also White. In 2025, one is almost a ruin. It used to be a prosperous, medium-sized town. Meanwhile, this big, great city we’re in right now has become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe,” Krasnodębski said.
Data cited during the discussion pointed to rising crime and housing pressures in parts of Western Europe. In Bremen, local officials have acknowledged that migration has contributed to these challenges, as reported in coverage of political responses in the city.
Other participants cautioned that similar dynamics could emerge elsewhere. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a former Polish minister and current adviser on European affairs, said Poland could face comparable pressures if migration policies shift.
“Looking at the statistics, you can see that in most of Western Europe, immigrant communities make up a percentage in the teens, or even over 20 percent, of the population. It’s not like that here (in Poland) yet, but we too face the risk of an open-borders policy starting here. We will then, after a certain delay, share the same fate,” he said.
Saryusz-Wolski also raised concerns about the scope of EU authority in migration matters.
“Migration policy is not among the European Union’s exclusive or shared competencies. This is only an area, the third category of cooperation, within which the Union institutions may assist, encourage, and advise the member states, but they cannot legislate. And that is the origin of this great usurpation,” he said.
Róbert Gönczi, an analyst affiliated with the Hungarian Institute for Migration Research and Mathias Corvinus Collegium, pointed to growing migration flows across the continent and challenges related to tracking individuals.
“Today we are witnessing a huge surge in migration that Europe is grappling with, and let’s not forget that we are all part of the European Union; it affects us all, and we all bear the consequences,” he said.
“There are millions of people we can’t track down. We don’t know where they are, we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know where they came from, and we don’t know what to do about it. This places a very significant burden on the European system, on the European Union, and it is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in a serious economic crisis,” Gönczi added.
Krzysztof Bosak, Deputy Speaker of Poland’s Sejm, said debates should address both unauthorized and authorized migration flows.
“The discussion about legal immigration — its scale, rules, and criteria — is no less important, if not more important, because the transformation of Western Europe was largely the result of large-scale legal immigration, and only as a result — or in parallel — did illegal immigration begin to arrive,” Bosak said.
He also pointed to what he described as uneven enforcement across EU member states.
“Please note that very few of our Border Guard’s decisions — whether during the Law and Justice government or now under the Civic Platform-led government — have been seriously challenged by any EU bodies. However, I’m not saying that this won’t happen at any moment now. It can happen. It depends solely on where the ‘Eye of Sauron’ from Brussels, from Luxembourg, turns its gaze, and which regulations, which practices it chooses to scrutinize. Such arbitrariness, it seems to me, has been taking place in the European Union for years with regard to the practice of so-called pushbacks — that is, what I call sending illegal migrants back to the proper side of the border,” he said.
The policy report presented at the event argues that member states retain significant authority over border protection, national security, and decisions regarding the admission of foreign nationals. It contends that constraints on these powers stem more from evolving legal interpretations than from explicit treaty provisions.
The publication also evaluates the European Union’s migration pact, suggesting it could contribute to increased migration flows and relocation mechanisms among member states. It outlines legal approaches that, according to its authors, would allow countries to strengthen migration controls within the framework of existing European and international law.
Participants concluded that migration policy remains a central issue for European governance, with debates continuing over national sovereignty, economic impact, and long-term demographic trends.
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