Government officials from Germany engaged in discussions on Tuesday with their Polish counterparts, seeking clarification regarding an illicit visa program. This program involved certain Polish consulates allegedly issuing visas in Africa and Asia in exchange for bribes, according to an official statement.
For several weeks, Poland has been grappling with reports suggesting that its consular sections may have issued approximately 250,000 visas to migrants from Asia and Africa since 2021, with each visa associated with bribes amounting to several thousand dollars. Poland’s membership in the EU’s visa-free Schengen zone meant that once these migrants arrived in Poland, they could move freely across Europe, including neighboring Germany.
While Poland’s conservative government acknowledges some wrongdoing and has taken measures such as arrests and dismissals, they contend that the scale of the issue is not as extensive as portrayed by the Polish media.
In response to these developments, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser held a phone conversation with her Polish counterpart, Mariusz Kaminski, on Tuesday afternoon. Additionally, Polish Ambassador Dariusz Pawlos was invited to meet with State Secretary Bernd Krösser at the German interior ministry in Berlin, according to a government official who spoke to The Associated Press.
During these discussions, German officials sought specific information from their Polish counterparts, including details about the timing and quantity of visas issued and the nationalities of the visa recipients. The German government communicated its expectation that the serious allegations of potential visa fraud be addressed and also inquired about the countermeasures being implemented by the Warsaw government.
The official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, noted that German federal police have already enhanced border security measures, particularly at the German-Polish border, in response to the ongoing migration situation. However, these increased border controls were initiated prior to the public revelation of the alleged visa scam and were not directly linked to it.
As details about this corruption scandal continue to emerge in Poland just a month before the country’s parliamentary election on Oct. 15, the ruling party, Law and Justice, faces challenges in managing the domestic fallout from the controversy.
