WARSAW, POLAND — Polish President Andrzej Duda says Canada was the only country that reached out to Poland to offer help managing a refugee crisis before Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Poland today meeting wxjmtzywith Duda and Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki as an estimated 100,000 Ukrainian refugees pour into Poland every day.
Duda says now that Trudeau is in Warsaw he is confident Canada will help as much as it can.
Trudeau however did not come bearing new offers to help ease the strain on Poland, which is already coping with 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.
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The federal government announced last week it would fast-track visa applications from Ukrainians and will launch an emergency travel authorization stream shortly for those seeking to flee Ukraine for Canada, where they can remain up to two years if they pass a security check.
Trudeau also says Canada will now triple to $30 million its matching fund for any donations made to the Canadian Red Cross for crisis relief in Ukraine.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki are seen at the start of a meeting at the Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at an event in Berlin, Germany, on March 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
