The request was filed after the Commission flagged several countries as facing significant migratory pressure.
Under the pact, which was adopted in 2024 and is due to take effect in June 2026, the solidarity mechanism allows EU members to support states under pressure.
Support can take the form of relocating asylum seekers, financial contributions or operational help such as personnel and equipment for border management.
Countries identified as under pressure may apply for a full or partial waiver from relocation and related obligations for the coming year.
Any waiver must be approved by the Council of the European Union by qualified majority, and would apply for one year, after which the Commission reassesses.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said Poland would not take part in relocation and argued that the country bears high costs for protecting the EU's external border.
"Poland is under migratory pressure from Belarus and has received war refugees from Ukraine," he said in a statement, adding that the option to apply offers longer-term protection than one year.
The European Commission said on Tuesday that Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Austria and Poland face "a significant migratory situation" linked to cumulative pressures in recent years, making them eligible to seek full or partial relief from relocation in the next annual cycle.
The Czech Republic confirmed on Wednesday it had also filed a waiver request.
Poland hosts large numbers of people displaced by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Three years into the war, around 1 million Ukrainian citizens, mainly women and children, are using temporary protection in Poland, according to the Office for Foreigners.
In 2022–2023, Poland spent an estimated PLN 106 billion (EUR 25 billion) on assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens, according to a report prepared by the Council for Cooperation with Ukraine at the Polish Prime Minister's Office.
The EU Commission on Tuesday launched the first Annual Migration Management Cycle, an EU-wide process that reviews pressures and proposes a yearly "solidarity pool" for member states under strain.
Member states choose how to contribute to that pool, through relocation, money, or alternative measures. The pact does not set a fixed number of migrants the EU must accept, and participation in relocation is one of several options for meeting a solidarity contribution.
As in much of Europe, the subject of migration remains politically highly charged in Poland. The government maintains it will neither relocate migrants nor pay in lieu of relocation under the pact.
At the same time, EU data show irregular entries have trended downward this year, while pressure persists on some routes and at borders where migration has been used as a tool by hostile actors, in the main Russia and Belarus.
In July, some 55,300 people applied for asylum in the EU for the first time, including 785 in Poland.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP