2024-05-08 15:03 update: 2024-05-08, 19:52
Donald Tusk. Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has commissioned the preparation of a report on the potential influence of Russian and Belarusian agencies on the Polish government.
At a press conference on Wednesday following a meeting of the Security Agencies Council, an advisory body to the government, Tusk said that some cases into possible Russian or Belarusian influence on the government were discontinued when the Law and Justice (PiS) party was in power in 2005-2023.
"Today, this is a reason for concern for Polish agencies," Tusk said.
He added that the Council would meet again on Friday.
Tusk convened the Council meeting after Tomasz Szmydt, a Polish judge who had access to confidential information, asked for political asylum in Belarus on Monday.
While working in a Warsaw court, Szmydt ruled in cases concerning security clearances as regards classified information, including under "NATO CLASSIFIED", "ESA CLASSIFIED" and "UE/EU CLASSIFIED" clauses. He also worked at the Ministry of Justice and the National Council of the Judiciary when PiS was in power.
The Security Agencies Council is a consultative and advisory body operating under the Council of Ministers that handles the operation of services such as the Internal Security Agency (ABW), the Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW), the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), the Military Intelligence Service (SWW) and the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA). (PAP)
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