As for the territory of Belarus, since 2020, and this was repeated four months after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Polish visas in Belarus were serviced by two entities as part of the so-called consortium. The company registered in Moscow was crucial in this, said Michał Szczerba, an MP from the Civic Coalition, on TVN24, referring to the visa scandal. The guest of “Piasecki’s Interview” revealed documents he received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Michał Szczerba, an MP from the Civic Coalition, referred to the issue of irregularities in issuing visas in the Monday edition of “Rozmowa Piaseckiego”.
– I think it’s really about betrayal. About betrayal of the ideals and values he preached PIS. He promised safety, but created a threat. And it’s very serious, he said.
Find out more: Visa scandal. What do we know so far?
– Mr. Editor, if he agreed to appear to you (Minister of Foreign Affairs – ed.) Zbigniew Rau, then he would have to answer a key question. Why on Friday, after MP (Dariusz – ed.) Joński and I filed a complaint against him with the prosecutor’s office, he published a message saying that an extraordinary inspection and audit will cover all consular posts of the Republic of Poland – said Szczerba.
– So even Rau, who is our opponent, does not consider this case to be a scandal, like Kaczyński, but considers it a serious scandal, and perhaps a gigantic scam – he added.
Szczerba: We proved that Rau knew
– We proved that Rau knew because when we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we received a stack of documents, which were letters received from entrepreneurs, employers, for example from the Office of the Ombudsman for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the Lewiatan Confederation, but also specific other small companies, which said that the black market for visa trade was flourishing. And of course, there were complaints against intermediary companies, because in accordance with the Visa Code, the Polish state has the opportunity to use intermediary companies – said Szczerba.
He added, “but what is very important is what these companies are, how they are selected and who is behind them.” During the program, the MP from the Civic Coalition presented the list he received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Michał SzczerbaTVN24
– The list mentions two companies that were selected by this government. Let’s see who the intermediary was. There are two contracts from July 10, 2020 and June 22, 2021. The company that was responsible for the entire process of granting visas, collecting visas, taking fingerprints, and delivering documents was a company registered in Moscow. And it happened, he noted.
– When it comes to territory Belarus, since 2020, and it was repeated four months after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Polish visas in Belarus were serviced by two entities as part of the so-called consortium. In this, the company registered in Moscow was crucial. This happened when there was a hybrid war on the Polish-Belarusian border. This happened when 30 NATO countries were taking action to weaken the Russian Federation, Szczerba explained.
– This company had to be authorized by the Russian authorities and we entrusted it with specific, very sensitive data – he added.
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