Former Polish gov't covered up visa scandal says witness
A witness has testified before a parliamentary investigative commission that the former Law and Justice (PiS) government tried to gloss over the so-called cash-for-visa scandal.
Last year, Poland, under the previous PiS government, was shaken by a political scandal concerning alleged corruption in granting travel visas to thousands of migrants by the then foreign ministry officials and Polish consular service.
In the aftermath, Polish prosecutors brought charges against nine people and Piotr Wawrzyk, a deputy foreign minister, lost his job in August 2023.
Edgar Kobos, "a political alumnus" of the United Right coalition dominated by PiS and Wawrzyk's long-time collaborator, testified before the parliamentary commission investigating the alleged scam on Monday.
According to him, "the political leadership of the United Right tried to cover up the visa scandal because they were the only group that could benefit the most from it."
Kobos confirmed "the existence of abuse, negligence and omissions in the legalisation of the stay of foreigners in Poland and in general in the system of visa issuance," supervised by Zbigniew Rau, the then foreign minister, and his deputy Wawrzyk.
"It was a flawed system in which abuses occurred at various levels, including lower ones. And many were aware of them," he said.
Kobos said that in order to increase the number of visas issued, Wawrzyk created new institutions responsible for the process.
"I am one of the many people who participated in it, and one of the few, or perhaps even the only one, who now has the courage to admit their actions and try to face their consequences," he said.
Kobos added that "so far I have had the entire state apparatus against me, which was not interested in actually explaining the visa scandal and getting to the truth."
The visa scandal dealt a powerful blow to PiS two months before the October 15 elections last year, which it eventually lost to a coalition of opposition parties. (PAP)
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