Poland intensifies the fight against espionage in favor of Russia

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed to restore the Polish Commission for the investigation of Russian influence. The reason was the incident with Polish judge Tomasz Schmidt and the risk of increasing espionage in favor of Russia in the country.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Reuters.

The head of government noted that the issue of resumption of work or the creation of a relevant body that will more effectively investigate Russian influence on Polish politics is on the agenda.

"We have a commission (on issues of Russian influence. -ed.), but there are constitutional reservations regarding its work," Tusk told reporters after a meeting on security issues, during which the espionage threat from Russia and Belarus was discussed.

One of the main reasons for this proposal was the incident with the judge of the Warsaw Administrative Court, Tomasz Schmidt, who had access to Polish military secrets and recently requested asylum in Belarus.

Tusk asked Tomasz Semoniak - a member of the Cabinet of Ministers responsible for the coordination of Polish special services - to prepare recommendations for resuming the work of the Commission.

"We have no doubts... that Mr. Schmidt serves a foreign state, foreign services," Semoniak said in an interview with the private TVN24 channel, emphasizing the fact that the judge appeared on Belarusian and Russian television attacking the Polish government.

"You can see from the sequence of events how quickly he ended up on Russian state television ... that this is a planned operation, which today, above all, has acquired a propaganda dimension," he said.

The Commission to Investigate Russian Influence was formed in 2023 by Poland's previous nationalist government, Law and Justice (PiS). However, Tusk's Civic Coalition group condemned the body's activities, calling it a "witch hunt tool" against him because it can ban politicians from holding office.

The commission has also faced opposition from the European Union and is currently defunct.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 09/05/2024