Poland’s president has condemned the government’s contentious plan to suspend the right to asylum for irregular migrants, calling it a “fatal mistake.”

Poland's president condemned a government plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum on Wednesday, saying it would harm members of the Belarusian opposition fleeing repression in their own country.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has defended his country’s planned tough stance against migrants at the border with Belarus. At Poland’s eastern border, it is not a case of refugees appearing spontaneously and randomly,

European Union leaders arriving at a summit in Brussels on Thursday said that the bloc needed tougher policies to expel illegal migrants, but acknowledged that agreeing new steps would take time. Poland and Baltic countries have said they would also call for a common EU stance against Russia and Belarus using migrants as a weapon against the EU.

European Union leaders will use a summit Thursday to seek ways to make the bloc a more hostile destination for migrants and asylum seekers