Polish consular officials should take a closer look when issuing visas in the future. The Foreign Ministry in Warsaw is drawing conclusions from a corruption scandal involving the previous government.
Poland is tightening its regulations for issuing visas. In the future, there will no longer be any opaque ways to expedite the issuance of a visa, said Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Warsaw. The “Poland Business Harbor” program, which was aimed primarily at self-employed people in the IT industry from neighboring Belarus, has been suspended. The rules for issuing visas for humanitarian reasons would also be revised.
The EU and NATO country Poland is drawing conclusions about corrupt practices in issuing visas under the former national-conservative PiS government, which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023. A report by the Supreme Court of Audit published on Thursday confirmed media reports from last autumn that Polish consulates in Asia and Africa issued visas in exchange for large sums of money during the time of the PiS government.
The results of the audit indicated “that from at least November 2022 to May 2023 there was a non-transparent and corrupt mechanism in the Foreign Ministry to influence certain consuls of Poland to speed up the processing of visa applications,” the Court of Auditors’ report said.
According to the information, private intermediary companies were also illegally involved in visa procurement. One of these companies is said to have been involved in arranging 4,250 visas between January 2018 and March 2024. According to the audit report, she charged the applicants up to the equivalent of 7,000 euros in fees for her services.
This generous practice in issuing entry permits stood in stark contrast to the anti-foreign and anti-migrant rhetoric of the PiS government. In August 2023, the then Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk was suddenly dismissed. According to media reports, he is said to have been the mastermind behind the system. Wawrzyk was arrested in January. He is being investigated on suspicion of corruption.
Source: Stern
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