“This is something unbelievable. Sooner or later, this matter must be clarified. It cannot disappear from the agenda of the president or the opposition parties. It is part of the broader discussion on the equality of elections and the upholding of electoral principles—that is, the rule of law during the campaign period,” said Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz on the program “Republic of Secret Services,” referring to the use by the December 13 Coalition of information from a background check on Karol Nawrocki in an attempt to damage him during the election campaign.
Karol Nawrocki won the presidential election. The candidate backed by Law and Justice (PiS) emerged victorious despite a massive campaign of lies and hate directed at him.
The attack on Nawrocki involved the use of state services – including information from an Internal Security Agency (ABW) background check procedure. As early as April, Professor Sławomir Cenckiewicz had warned of such a scenario. The historian addressed these developments in the program “Republic of Secret Services.”
“It is an unbelievable experience. The entire scenario that was eventually implemented—I described it, if I’m not mistaken, on April 9, nearly two months before the second round of elections. This scenario was carried out to the letter. That was the first time I publicly wrote that the central issue would be the apartment matter. I said that information about the studio flat, the method of acquisition, the contract, etc., would come from ABW’s 2021 background check files. I said it would be dressed up as a journalistic investigative piece. A few days before Onet published its article, I had information about one of the co-authors. My sources came from the intelligence services. There was no doubt that my interlocutors were speaking the truth. For a time, everything I wrote or said would be instantly denied. Let me remind you that this included categorical denials that the issue of Karol Nawrocki’s apartment was part of Onet’s independent investigation and not sourced from Secret Service background checks,”
– he said.
He recalled that “the spokesperson for the special services coordinator, Jacek Dobrzyński, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk published posts indicating that the studio flat case stemmed from a background check – the prime minister pointed to a Gdańsk ABW officer who had allegedly issued a negative recommendation.”
“How does the Prime Minister know that the issue of the apartment was the reason for the negative recommendation against granting Karol Nawrocki security clearance? Later, there were two posts from Dobrzyński on this matter. One aligned with Tusk’s post, and the second was a response to Col. Wacławek’s statement accusing the Prime Minister of lying. Both posts from Dobrzyński confirmed that the apartment matter was known to the ABW. This means that someone from the services relayed information all the way up to the Prime Minister, the coordinator, and his spokesperson, confirming that the apartment issue was part of the background check and resulted in a negative recommendation. It’s astounding. This issue must eventually be clarified. It cannot fall off the agenda of the president or opposition parties. It’s part of the broader debate on election equality and adherence to electoral law during the campaign,”
– he declared.
In his opinion, “Prime Minister Tusk wouldn’t have written what he did unless there had been discussions between the secret service, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the coordinator for special services, and his spokesperson.”
“Why is the Department for the Protection of Classified Information the key unit of the ABW here? Because the department oversees all background check proceedings and the archiving of related files. This cannot be done without the department leadership’s approval. It’s obvious that at some point, an investigation into how the 2021 background check file on Karol Nawrocki was handled will be necessary for the sake of Polish democratic integrity. There was definitely coordination with the ABW’s Gdańsk branch, as Nawrocki had previously undergone two background checks—in 2009 and 2014—when he was an IPN employee in Gdańsk and obtained top-secret clearance. Those materials were certainly used again,”
– he said.
He also stated that “calling a good intelligence officer like Col. Wacławek a PiS-aligned agency head was a complete scandal.”
“It followed that if Karol Nawrocki lost the election, they would revoke his security clearance. That would inevitably lead to criminal charges against Krzysztof Wacławek because he signed off on Nawrocki’s clearance in December 2021,”
– he emphasized.
“A parliamentary inquiry must be filed”
According to Prof. Cenckiewicz, “in light of what Dobrzyński did, there must not only be public questions—there must be a parliamentary inquiry, and today I will urge my colleagues in Law and Justice to file it.”
“They must ask how the information from Karol Nawrocki’s background check became known. This is the crucial issue right now. From the schedule of the Wednesday meeting of the Special Services Committee, which addressed the elections, it’s possible this topic came up during discussions. This cannot be overlooked. We must not become intoxicated by victory,”
– he concluded.