Norway gives way on the case of a mother who fled to Poland with her children

Adobe Stock

The Kingdom of Norway withdrew the European Arrest Warrant against a citizen of that country who had fled to Poland together with her daughters and son. Barnevernet, the Norwegian Child Welfare Authority, attempted to unreasonably take the children away from the woman. Earlier, the District Court in Myślibórz decided that minors could stay in Poland with their mother. The Ordo Iuris Institute provided their support to the family.

The woman came to Poland with her two daughters and son in 2018. In Norway, they had been subjected to violence by their father. Barnevernet tried to take the children away from the Norwegian woman because of an alleged lack of cooperation with the institution. After the arrival of the family in Poland, Norway issued a European Arrest Warrant for the mother. In October last year, the woman was arrested by the police. Thanks to the intervention by Ordo Iuris, the court decided against her provisional arrest and the woman was released the next day. However, the children were placed in emergency protective custody.

Norway asked Poland to surrender the woman on the basis of a European arrest warrant. In April, the District Court in Myślibórz decided that children could return to their mother for the duration of the proceedings. In recent days, the Kingdom of Norway withdrew the European Arrest Warrant issued for the woman, which means that the family can remain safe in Poland.

"This behaviour by the Norwegian authorities should be seen as their withdrawal from the adopted tactics . Let us hope that the European Arrest Warrant will not be used in similar situations. - commented Adv. Filip Wołoszczak from the Ordo Iuris Centre for Legal Intervention.