Post-Brexit immigration hot topic as May heads for Poland

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AFP Warsaw
Last Updated : Jul 27 2016 | 12:13 AM IST
The post-Brexit future of thousands of Poles in Britain will likely be at the top of the agenda Thursday when new British Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Warsaw for talks.
At some 790,000, Poles make up by far the largest community of some three million European Union migrants living in the United Kingdom.
"We will probably take up questions concerning the situation of Poles currently living in Great Britain, this being the most important thing for us in the context of Brexit," Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told reporters on today.
"But we are also going to discuss bilateral cooperation since Great Britain is a major and strategic partner for Poland," Szydlo added.
A cursory statement from Szydlo's office did not reveal either exactly when or where the pair would be meeting or give any further indication of May's agenda while in Poland.
A long and at times heated referendum campaign saw migration feature as the main hot button issue for voters wanting Britain to leave the European Union and their camp secured victory by a 52 to 48 per cent margin on June 23.
The campaign saw several xenophobic attacks on Poles including graffiti daubed at a Polish cultural centre in London, which brought condemnation from the government.
Polish has overtaken Welsh as the second-most spoken language in the United Kingdom.
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First Published: Jul 27 2016 | 12:13 AM IST

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