Poland won’t accept refugees after Paris attacks

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he is “deeply shocked” by the attacks in Paris that have left at least 39 people dead. Early indications are that the fallout from the massacre will intensify that debate in the coming weeks. In practice, though, rather than being completely closed, France’s border crossings simply saw a dramatic increase in security measures, France 24 reported. Air France on Saturday maintained flights in and out of the country. However, the European Union had only relocated 116 refugees as of November 4, The Guardian reported.

Polls have been suggesting that Le Pen, known for her strong opposition to immigration, is likely to win regional elections in northern France next month.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, already under pressure from political foes and allies, seemed Saturday to hold onto her stance of placing no limits on the number of people Germany is willing to give refuge to – a stance that is increasingly being called into question.

Poland’s new government has responded to the Paris attacks by demanding security guarantees before accepting its allocation of refugees under a European Union quota system, and saying the carnage puts the EU’s entire migrant policy in question.

Szymanski is to take the European affairs portfolio in conservative Prime Minister-designate Beata Szydlo new government.

Regardless, Poland is using the unconfirmed news of the Syrian passport in Paris as an excuse to deny any further entrance to refugees.

Only one of the attackers has as yet been publicly named, amid ongoing attempts to identify the victims – French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday that the bodies of up to 30 people killed in the assaults have yet to be identified.

As it is, the situation for refugees streaming into Europe was becoming harder, with Austria, Germany and Sweden declaring that they would institute border controls, Slovenia and Hungary fortifying their borders, and, in a direct response to the attacks in Paris, France placed temporary controls and checks on its own borders.

Simon Kuper, a columnist with the Financial Times and Paris resident, said the move could be part of a strategy by IS to “discredit” refugees and force Europe to close its borders.

Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said those seeking refuge in Europe shouldn’t be made to suffer just because “they come from those regions where terror is being exported to us and to the world”. “As a state under the rule of law, as a free state, we are always vulnerable”.