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,

Migration has become one of the top political priorities in most EU countries, a senior EU diplomat said, adding that right wing politicians framed events like Solingen as a failure of the immigration debate.

European Union leaders are struggling to maintain a coordinated approach on migration policy after member states including Germany and Poland announced strict new border controls.