The former head of the Internal Security Service, Krzysztof Wacawek, delivered a candid, unguarded statement during the hearing of the visa investigation committee. After a series of questions, the committee chair, Marek Sowa, suggested that the remainder of the session be held in private.
From February 3, 2020, to December 19, 2023, Wacawek led the agency through a period marked by serious threats to state security. He spoke of dangers that were largely unseen since the democratic changes of 1989 and noted that Poland faced a range of challenges during those years.
As he described, the threats included the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures it necessitated, a spectrum of disinformation campaigns orchestrated by Russian entities, and a hybrid pressure campaign across the Polish-Belarusian border. He also highlighted the broader impact of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, framing it as a multi-faceted security crisis that required a comprehensive response.
Wacawek pointed to the consequences of the war, including a large influx of refugees into Poland during 2022 and 2023, a sharp rise in prices across Europe, and a sustained wave of intelligence operations and disinformation conducted by Russian special services. He emphasized that these efforts sought to erode social cohesion in response to the humanitarian aid Poland provided to Ukraine and the aid that flowed through Poland to Ukraine.
In his remarks, the former head stressed the work of the Agency for Internal Security in carrying out its statutory duties to safeguard state security. He noted that during his tenure, and across eight governments of the United Right, Poland did not experience a terrorist attack or sabotage on its soil, underscoring a period of relative security and resilience.
He also touched on the Poland.Business Harbor program, stating that its implementation did not pose any real threat to state security. He asserted that none of the foreigners who came to Poland under this visa scheme participated in incidents that could undermine national security.
About 90,000 PLN was issued under Poland.Business Harbor visas. It is important to recall that these visas were issued based on verified personal data, residence, and place of employment. Only about 15,000 to 20,000 of these individuals actually entered Poland. This should be compared with the hybrid-border operations that surfaced between the second half of 2021 and the present, when Polish services documented roughly 100,000 attempts by people pressured by Belarusian services to cross the border. The internal assessment suggested that at least 30 percent of those individuals posed a real security risk, including ties to terrorist, paramilitary, or criminal groups, or training in the Russian Federation.
Wačawek noted that Polish services responsible for state security, including the Internal Security Service, actively countered these threats. He asserted that both the Polish state and its citizens remained safeguarded against the risks described.
Following the testimony, the committee chair asked further questions and then proposed moving the remainder of the hearing to a closed session.
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Note: information presented reflects the committee hearing discussions and related public disclosures.