With no end to the Brexit impasse in sight, European governments are growing increasingly anxious over the status of their UK-based citizens in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Poland is leading the way by advising its UK-based citizens to consider their options carefully in a post-Brexit world.
The Polish ambassador to Britain has written to 800,000 Polish nationals, advising them to “seriously consider” leaving the UK after the country’s exit from the European Union (EU).
In his letter, Arkady Rzegocki claims that living standards in Poland are “improving”, thereby providing “a very good opportunity to come back”.
Rzegocki expresses alarm at the fact that most Polish nationals are failing to regularize their status in Britain in the run-up to a no-deal Brexit.
He claims that only 27 percent of Poles in Britain have applied for settled status, “meaning that thousands of Polish citizens may be exposed to complications related to the lack of regulating their status”.
The Polish ambassador claims that many Poles are leaving the UK due to Brexit-related uncertainty. According to Rzegocki, 116,000 Poles left Britain last year, whilst “about a million” are still living in the UK.
The Polish ambassador’s intervention is set to intensify fears of the repercussions of a no-deal Brexit, particularly in relation to the status and prospects of EU nationals currently resident in the UK.
The ambassador’s warning comes on the heels of Monday’s failed meeting in Luxembourg between EU bosses and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.