Poland’s prime minister says he wants to see more workers return from the UK to help its domestic economy grow.
Mateusz Morawiecki told the BBC that “more and more are coming back and I’m pleased about that because there is a low level of unemployment… Give us our people back”.
But he said people who want to stay in the UK should be allowed to, “and be treated exactly as they are now”.
He said Prime Minister Theresa May had given him that commitment.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Mr Morawiecki said there was a low level of unemployment in Poland and 5.5% GDP growth. “So I would hope that many Poles would come back to Poland,” he said.
Mr Morawiecki is desperate for the UK to avoid a hard Brexit – an outcome he says would be damaging for the UK, Poland and the whole EU.
Poland has been critical of the way the EU has handled the Brexit negotiations. Its foreign minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, has recently suggested that the Irish backstop should be time-limited to five years.
The backstop would keep the UK in a customs union with the EU until future arrangements are agreed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
