Poland plans to temporarily suspend asylum rights as part of a new policy that aims to reduce undocumented migration, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Saturday’s announcement comes weeks after Germany extended border checks with its neighbors, and after years of a migration crisis that Poland says has been stirred up Russia and Belarus.

“One element of the strategy will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right of asylum, and I will be calling for this decision to be recognized in Europe,” Tusk said in Warsaw.

The asylum system is exploited by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tusk.

The temporary suspension won’t affect Ukrainians fleeing into Poland to avoid conflict at home; millions have made that journey since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

— Bloomberg