Poland’s former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing in a visas-for-cash scandal during his tenure.
Mateusz Morawiecki told a parliamentary committee investigating the scandal which allegedly saw “abuses, negligence and omissions in the legalization of the stay of foreigners in Poland” that the government under the Law and Justice party (PiS) had been focused on stopping illegal immigration.
He added that he had no knowledge of any irregularities in the operation of a program set up in 2020 to attract enterprising Belarusians to Poland.
Morawiecki told the committee on Wednesday that he did not remember having a conversation about extending the program to include Russians, but did not rule out that he had received information about the program extension.
He said: “It was a special time when tensions with Belarus and Russia were increasing. We tried to help those who could bring some benefit to the Polish economy.”
The program included a simplified visa procedure for companies, startups and IT specialists, without the need to obtain a work permit. Initially, it was addressed only to Belarusians.
Morawiecki continued by saying that Poland’s security services were responsible for checking people who came to the country and said that his priority as prime minister was to create new jobs and attract investments to Poland.
“If even more than a thousand IT specialists came here, it means that they contributed to the Polish economy,” he said, adding: “The visa issue wasn't something I needed to find out about immediately; the decision on this matter belonged to the head of the secret services.”
Morawiecki then went on to accuse the head of the committee, Michał Szczerba, of being "one of the originators and godfathers" of the program because he had taken part in a meeting to discuss its creation.
In a tit-for-tat exchange, the deputy head of the committee, Marek Sowa, cited the testimony of Edgar Kobos, a former collaborator of the then deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piotr Wawrzyk.
Sowa said Kobos had had a network of agents all over the world who recruited employees willing to go to Poland, and “the entire consular department operated exclusively for Kobos under the full cover and protection of Wawrzyk.”
“You simply built a mafia system,” Sowa told Morawiecki.
The former prime minister replied: “This is absolute slander. I have not read the testimony of Mr. Kobos, but I can say that we protected Poland from the actual wave of illegal immigration.”
He then admitted that once he had found out about Wawrzyk he had asked him to resign but denied knowing Kobos who was detained in an investigation into paid protection in connection with accelerating visa procedures.
A preliminary version of the report on the committee's work is to be presented on June 10.
He added that he had no knowledge of any irregularities in the operation of a program set up in 2020 to attract enterprising Belarusians to Poland.
Morawiecki told the committee on Wednesday that he did not remember having a conversation about extending the program to include Russians, but did not rule out that he had received information about the program extension.
He said: “It was a special time when tensions with Belarus and Russia were increasing. We tried to help those who could bring some benefit to the Polish economy.”
The program included a simplified visa procedure for companies, startups and IT specialists, without the need to obtain a work permit. Initially, it was addressed only to Belarusians.
Morawiecki continued by saying that Poland’s security services were responsible for checking people who came to the country and said that his priority as prime minister was to create new jobs and attract investments to Poland.
“If even more than a thousand IT specialists came here, it means that they contributed to the Polish economy,” he said, adding: “The visa issue wasn't something I needed to find out about immediately; the decision on this matter belonged to the head of the secret services.”
Morawiecki then went on to accuse the head of the committee, Michał Szczerba, of being "one of the originators and godfathers" of the program because he had taken part in a meeting to discuss its creation.
In a tit-for-tat exchange, the deputy head of the committee, Marek Sowa, cited the testimony of Edgar Kobos, a former collaborator of the then deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piotr Wawrzyk.
Sowa said Kobos had had a network of agents all over the world who recruited employees willing to go to Poland, and “the entire consular department operated exclusively for Kobos under the full cover and protection of Wawrzyk.”
“You simply built a mafia system,” Sowa told Morawiecki.
The former prime minister replied: “This is absolute slander. I have not read the testimony of Mr. Kobos, but I can say that we protected Poland from the actual wave of illegal immigration.”
He then admitted that once he had found out about Wawrzyk he had asked him to resign but denied knowing Kobos who was detained in an investigation into paid protection in connection with accelerating visa procedures.
A preliminary version of the report on the committee's work is to be presented on June 10.
Source: PAP/Onet
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