"Our position is not changing". Andrzej Duda and Mateusz Morawiecki on EU migration pact

Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party also faces elections on October 15 and one of its main campaign promises is to protect Poland from illegal immigration. It announced a referendum on the issue on the same day as the vote.

Andrzej Duda and Mateusz Morawiecki spoke in Warsaw ahead of the EU summit in Granada which will discuss how to tackle increasing arrivals of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa - both seen as existential challenges for the bloc.

"Our position is not changing. Today the problem (of migration) is back," Duda told a press conference.

"Back then, in 2015-2016 we managed to derail the proposal for forced relocation of the migrants. We strongly opposed it, we fought against the quota system as the unfair system, the system which solves the effects and not the problem itself. We spoke about problem-solving," he added.

"And today, when the problem is back and once again it is being solved by removing the effects, and again by de facto forced relocation of the migrants within the migration pact that was proposed, we consistently say no, we are against it, and we will present this position, together with Mr Prime Minister (Mateusz Morawiecki) today and tomorrow at international meetings of the European Union which we will take part in," the president stressed.

In Duda's view, "we need to speak out about it collectively, as a nation, as Polish voters, as those who have the right to decide about the future of our country, because this democratic verdict which will be the result of the referendum gives us legitimacy to show it clearly on the European Union forum what is the society's will".

Morawiecki said that Poland was at a turning point. "... a point absolutely decisive in terms of how Polish borders will be treated in the future, how Polish sovereignty will be treated".

"We should ask a very clear-cut question. Why should we agree to this dictate from Brussels, a dictate from Berlin? And yet in the last 10 years the Germans have been wrong in all the crucial matters you could be wrong about," he added. Morawiecki listed Germany's migration and energy policies as well as approach towards Russia as Germany's mistakes.

"I am going to Granada to the European Council summit to put a hard veto but also lay down a plan on the table, which I spoke about three months ago. A plan that is the only possible remedy to what is happening when it comes to illegal migration."

European Union countries on Wednesday sealed a deal on how to handle irregular immigration at times of exceptionally high arrivals, taking a step towards overhauling the bloc's asylum and migration rules before a pan-European election next year.

Envoys of the bloc's 27 member states reached the agreement on Wednesday after overcoming the latest spat between Italy and Germany over charity ships picking people up in the sea as refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa try to cross the Mediterranean for Europe.

The 27 countries will now negotiate further with the European Parliament. They hope to have a functioning migration system in place ahead of a 2024 European Parliament election that takes place across the union of some 450 million people.

"Now we can move on with the negotiations," said Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. "It is important to get the pact in place, to ensure order at the EU's external borders and reduce flows."

Under the agreement, countries such as Italy that receive many Mediterranean arrivals could speed up asylum procedures and ask for swift help from EU peers, including financial aid and relocations.

The EU has been seeking to reform its asylum system since more than a million people reached its shores in 2015, catching the bloc by surprise and overwhelming countries of first arrival such as Greece and Italy.

Diplomatic sources said Italy agreed to the deal after removing some references to the NGO operations.

They added Poland and Hungary - staunchly opposed to hosting any people arriving from the Middle East and Africa - voted against, while their reluctant peers Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia abstained. The majority vote went through.

Wednesday's meeting was the last chance to seal a deal before national leaders meet in Spain's Granada on Thursday and Friday, where they are due to discuss irregular migration amid increased arrivals across the Mediterranean, including to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The spat between Rome and Berlin prevented a deal among the EU's migration ministers last week. The tentative agreement on Wednesday leaves many questions open, including when and how it would be implemented.