Poland's MoD official arrested over alleged foreign intelligence ties
Polish authorities have arrested a long-time employee of the defence ministry who is suspected of collaborating with foreign intelligence services, the ministry has reported.
The ministry reported on the detention on Tuesday morning in a statement on X.
"We would like to inform you that this morning at the Ministry of National Defence headquarters (Niepodleglosci Ave., Warsaw), a long-time employee of the Ministry of National Defence was detained. The detainee is suspected of collaborating with foreign intelligence," the statement read.
The case is being handled by the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), in cooperation with the Military Affairs Department of the National Prosecutor's Office and the Military Police.
According to unofficial reports obtained by PAP, the suspect was a civilian employee of the ministry's Department of Strategy and Defence Planning.
The SKW has obtained strong, incriminating evidence confirming that the detained employee had been spying for a foreign intelligence service, said Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for the minister coordinator of special services, at an afternoon press conference on Tuesday.
Dobrzynski confirmed the man was detained at his workplace at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Warsaw by soldiers from the SKW and the Military Police, after being informed of the reasons for his detention and undergoing procedural steps, including the securing of documents.
He added that the detainee is a civilian and not a high-ranking official, dismissing media reports suggesting otherwise. "He is neither a soldier nor, let alone, any kind of officer," Dobrzynski said.
The spokesperson added that he could not disclose which foreign intelligence service the man had been cooperating with, saying that "foreign intelligence services would very much like to know what information our special services or our prosecutors possess." (PAP)
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