Opposition condemns government for issuing 1,700 visas to Russians amid Ukraine war

The opposition has criticised the government over official figures that show over 1,700 Polish visas have been issued to Russians in 2022 and 2023. A foreign ministry official, however, says they went to people “fleeing Putin’s regime” who have been “thoroughly vetted”.

At a press conference in parliament today, Marcin Kierwiński, an MP from the centrist Civic Platform (PO), announced that they had received data from the foreign ministry on the number of visas issued under the government’s “Poland Business Harbour” scheme, which aims to attract foreign IT specialists to Poland.

The figures show that last year 1,247 visas were issued to Russians under the programme while this year’s figure was 467 by the end of September. A further 65,000 visas have been issued to citizens of Belarus – whose government is a Kremin ally – under the programme during that period.

Ściąganie „informatyków” z Białorusi i Rosji. Tak wygląda realizacja hasła „bezpieczna Polska” w wykonaniu @MorawieckiM. Już po wybuchu wojny na Ukrainie rozdali 65tys wiz Białorusinom i 1700 Rosjanom. To nie są patrioci to idioci. pic.twitter.com/4oCiWBnXVJ

— Marcin Kierwiński (@MKierwinski) October 11, 2023

“What can you be thinking to bring Russian IT specialists to Poland after Russia attacked Ukraine? What can you be thinking to manage Polish security so irresponsibly?” asked Kierwiński, quoted by news website Onet.

“Maybe they are spies, maybe agents, maybe people who are supposed to spread misinformation,” claimed the opposition MP, adding that such people could have been employed to “work on critical and IT infrastructure”.

“This is the whole truth about [Prime Minister Mateusz] Morawiecki’s government; this is a government that acts in foreign interests,” said Kierwiński.

Poland has arrested two Russians accused of distributing hundreds of recruitment posters for the Wagner Group in Warsaw and Kraków.

The pair – who Polish investigators say were paid from Moscow – could face up to ten years in prison if found guilty https://t.co/oOASjPtt7Q

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 14, 2023

In response, deputy foreign ministry Paweł Jabłoński tweeted that the visas pertain to “a few hundred people fleeing Russia from Putin’s regime, [who were] thoroughly checked by [Poland’s] Internal Security Agency”.

In September last year, the Polish government announced that it had closed its borders to Russians with visas to enter the Schengen European travel zone. But it said that exceptions would be made for some categories, such as opponents of Putin’s regime.

Later that month, Poland refused entry to dozens of Russians trying to cross its land borders, saying they “may be dangerous to our country”.

Poland has refused entry to dozens of Russians trying to cross its border, saying they “may be dangerous to our country”.

A particularly large number sought to enter on Wednesday and Thursday, after Putin announced a partial mobilisation https://t.co/9RSOT7731P

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 24, 2022

In his statement today, Jabłoński provided data from 2010-15 – when PO was previously in power – showing how many visas were issued by Poland annually to Russians. The total for those six years was over 1.1 million.

The latest opposition accusations are “hypocrisy and a smokescreen for their own pro-Putin policies” under Donald “Tusk’s pro-Russian government”, said the minister.

PiS has regularly claimed that PO was too friendly towards Russia during its time in power and that it continues to represent foreign – rather than Polish – interests.

Ws. wiz dla obywateli Rosji – kilka liczb dla właściwej skali:

2010 – 159 tys.
2011 – 214 tys.
2012 – 266 tys.
2013 – 229 tys.
2014 – 150 tys. (rok ataku na Ukrainę!)
2015 – 95 tys.

Razem ponad milion (1,113 mln) wiz dla Rosjan w latach 2010-2015 – tylu Rosjan wpuścił do Polski…

— 🇵🇱 Paweł Jabłoński (@paweljablonski_) October 11, 2023

Migration and national security have become central to the campaign for Sunday’s parliamentary elections. PiS argues that it is the only party that can be trusted to defend Poland’s borders and ensure its security.

However, the opposition accuses the government of hypocrisy: of campaigning against immigration while letting in record numbers of immigrants, including through corruption in the visa system; and of undermining security by politicising the military and other security services.

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Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.