After Prime Minister Donald Tusk cancelled the meeting between the heads of Poland’s security services and President Karol Nawrocki, the prime minister was swiftly defended by Tomasz Siemoniak. However, when the coordinator of the special services was confronted with the relevant legal provisions, they clearly confirmed that the head of state has the right to request information about the activities of the services.
On Friday, President Karol Nawrocki announced Donald Tusk’s decision prohibiting the heads of special services from holding meetings or discussions with the head of state. The National Security Bureau (BBN) condemned the prime minister’s move, calling it “unacceptable and dangerous to the security of our Homeland.”
Tusk’s tirade was echoed by his minister — Special Services Coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak. Seeking to defend the prime minister, he insisted that “it is not true that the special services do not provide information to the president,” and assured that “he receives, just like his predecessors, the necessary information, as do the authorized officials of his office.”
“The cooperation between the president and the special services is regulated by legal provisions that do not foresee individual briefings between the president and the head of a service,” Siemoniak argued.
This statement was swiftly countered by presidential adviser Stanisław Żaryn, who accused Siemoniak of manipulation.
“Articles 18 of the Act on the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW), as well as Article 19 of the Act on Military Counterintelligence (SKW) and Military Intelligence (SWW), clearly indicate that it is the President of the Republic of Poland who presides over the exchange of information conducted under these provisions. It is he who asks the services and expects information from them — and the services are obliged to provide it,” Żaryn responded.
He added that the laws explicitly state that the president has the right to determine the format in which information is to be conveyed.
“Cutting the President off from the services is an act by the Prime Minister that runs contrary to Poland’s interests, contrary to the logic of the law, and represents yet another escalation of the political war that Prime Minister Tusk is waging against all political centers not under his control. The victims of this small, hostile gesture are not only the officers themselves but, above all, the entire security system of the Republic of Poland, which the Prime Minister is once again distorting with his anti-state attitude,” the statement reads.
“After such a decision by Prime Minister Tusk, is the Polish state stronger? Is Poland’s security and counterintelligence system more effective — when the President of the Republic is deprived of the ability to contact the services?” Żaryn asked rhetorically.
MEP Piotr Müller reminded that for years, meetings between the president and the heads of the services had been normal practice.
“The President of Poland, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, invites the heads of the security services for a meeting — something that has always been a standard practice. It is obvious that the President of Poland must have access to all key information on an ongoing basis (this follows directly from existing laws!). It was also entirely normal for him to discuss these matters directly with the heads of the services,” Müller emphasized.