It’s not just Wawrzyk and his Bollywood. This is one of the elements, and there is simply much more pathology. No one has any control over this system – said Andrzej Stankiewicz, deputy editor-in-chief of Onet, author of publications on irregularities in issuing visas, on TVN24. As he said, some of the unexpected absences on PiS electoral lists are also the result of this scandal.
On Monday, Andrzej Stankiewicz, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Onet portal, spoke about irregularities in issuing visas on TVN24, the author of publications on the visa scandal, including the one that exposed “Wawrzyk filmmakers” who pretended to be Bollywood crews.
– There are companies that bring people to Poland. They fight each other like mafias. Companies that need employees. Sometimes they download them legally, sometimes illegally. There’s a whole other market that we’re not talking about. Obtaining work permits, because everyone who comes to Poland must have a work permit from the voivodeship office. This is also a black market, commented Stankiewicz.
– Finally, there is trading in slots during interrogations at consulates. Consuls personally talk to people who are to come to Poland. It’s not just Wawrzyk and his Bollywood. This is one of the elements. And there is simply much more pathology. No one has any control over this system, emphasized Stankiewicz.
As he noted, “provincial offices should be under the control of the Prime Minister’s office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and visa policy should be under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Find out more: Visa scandal. What do we know so far?
Stankiewicz: this is also the result of the visa scandal
Stankiewicz thanked those who informed journalists about the case. – People from inside this visa system came forward with very specific information who said they were simply fed up with it – he said.
– And I read all these publications, I am the author of several myself and I know that they are different people, it is not one source of information. There were people in this whole system who were simply decent, who did not want to participate in it and the ruling camp did not appreciate it. He thought he had such control over the system and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, over people and politicians, because they were politicians PiS they knew – said the Onet journalist.
The TVN24 guest announced further publications that will show that “some of the unexpected absences of various politicians on the electoral lists of Law and Justice, not only Piotr Wawrzyk, are also the result of this scandal.”
Stankiewicz: some of the unexpected absences on PiS electoral lists are also the result of the visa scandal TVN24
– So people from inside PiS also came forward with information. When writing about my Bollywood history, I based it on two sources. One source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the other strictly political. And PiS did not appreciate that there are people who will find out about this case and inform journalists about it, considering that the public must know about it – said Stankiewicz.
When asked if he could say in one sentence whose scandal it was, the journalist replied that “it’s too early to say it yet.” – At the moment we can say the Wawrzyk scandal, but this is certainly not the last word – he said.
The entire conversation with Andrzej Stankiewicz about the visa scandal TVN24
Visa scandal
Investigations into irregularities in submitting visa applications are conducted by the prosecutor’s office Central Anticorruption Bureau. The opposition talks about corruption and claims that hundreds of thousands of documents issued arouse suspicion. Head of PO Donald Tusk he called it “the biggest scandal of the 21st century in Poland.”
The deputy director of the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office, Daniel Lerman, reported at the Thursday conference that “the investigation was initiated on March 7, 2023 based on materials provided by the Central Anticorruption Bureau.”
– It concerns paid protection in the acceleration of visa procedures in relation to several hundred visas and visa applications submitted over a year and a half. Of these several hundred visas, most of them were granted through refusal decisions, the prosecutor explained. He added that the procedure concerned applications for visas for foreigners to work in Poland.
Read also: Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding irregularities in the visa issuance process
Former deputy minister Piotr Wawrzyk, who was dismissed from his position due to the scandal, was hospitalized last Friday.
Main photo source: TVN24