Poland to refuse refugee quotas in wake of Paris attacks

Poland will refuse to take in refugees allocated to it under a European Union programme meant to share responsibility among the body's 28 member states in the midst of this year's border crisis.

The country's incoming European affairs minister Konrad Szymanski, elected last month when his right-wing Law and Justice Party won over a third of the vote, wrote an article on Saturday about the "tragic" events in Paris last night.

"The European Council's decisions on the relocation of refugees and immigrants to all EU countries, which we criticised, are part of European law," Szymanski wrote.

"After the tragic events of Paris we do not see the political possibility of respecting them."

Poland had previously agreed to take in 4,500 refugees under the plan. 

A French far-right leader on Saturday also used referenced a need to "recapture control of [France's] borders" in the aftermath of the attacks.

Marine Le Pen, who heads the National Front and yesterday topped a presidential poll ahead of elections in 2017, spoke on French television, saying:

"France must determine who its friends are and who its enemies are. France's enemies are those who maintain links with Islamism. 

"Once and for all, France must recapture control of its borders."