Foreign News
Poland: Government under pressure over escalating cash for visas scandal
The speaker of Poland’s upper house of parliament has called on the government to reveal what it knew about an escalating cash for visas scandal.
Tomasz Grodzki said the issue was ruining the country’s international reputation as a responsible democracy.
The government has released few details but media reports say migrants paid up to $5,000 (£4,000) each to speed up their work visa applications. Seven people have been charged so far but none are public officials.
The country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk was sacked last week following the allegations. His dismissal came the same day that Poland’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) carried out a search of the foreign ministry. The director of its legal service has also been fired.
The ministry, which is facing an audit in relation to the scandal, said it would terminate all contracts for outsourcing companies handling visa applications since 2011. Opposition MPs said up to 250,000 visas for people from Asia and Africa were issued irregularly by outsourcing companies.
The government disagreed with this figure, saying only several hundred were issued.
“Anyone who wants to get from Africa to Poland goes to our embassy, buys a stamped visa at a special stand, fills in their details and off they go! PiS [governing party] migration policy,” wrote Donald Tusk, the leader of the opposition Civic Platform party, on X (formerly Twitter).
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused Mr Tusk of trying to stir up problems for his governing Law and Justice party (PiS) and denied that there is a widespread issue.
“This case is ruining our country’s reputation as a responsible member of the democratic community of the free world and jeopardizes our security, therefore it must be explained in detail,” said Mr Grodzki, speaker of Poland’s upper house, in a televised address on Friday. “This is the biggest scandal we have faced in the 21st century. Corruption at the highest levels of government, bringing a direct threat to all of us.”
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro later said in an interview with state-run news channel TVP Info that Mr Grodzki was exaggerating the scale of the problem.
The CBA said it first became aware of the matter in July 2022 and has been working to verify it since. The scandal threatens to tarnish the PiS’s anti-immigration stance ahead of parliamentary elections that are due in a month’s time.
PiS is seeking an unprecedented third term in office and while they are currently leading in polls, it is unclear if they can win the outright majority they need to govern.
(BBC)
A Russian-American citizen has been released in a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, a Los Angeles resident, had been in prison in Russia for over a year, after being arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg in early 2024.
She was found guilty of treason for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine and was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony.
In exchange, the US reportedly freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023. He was accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russia for manufacturers working with the Russian military.
[BBC]
A nationwide general strike disrupted public services across Greece, with ferries tied up in port, flights grounded and public transport running only part-time as labour unions press for higher wages to cope with rising living costs.
The 24-hour strike on Wednesday was called by the two main umbrella unions covering the public and private sectors, seeking a full return of collective bargaining rights which were scrapped as part of international bailouts during Greece’s financial crisis.
Greece has emerged from a 2009-18 debt crisis, which saw rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth about 290 billion euros ($319bn) and economic growth seen at 2.3 percent this year, outpacing other eurozone economies.
Tapping on the country’s progress, the conservative government increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35 percent to 880 euros ($970). But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid rising food, power and housing costs, the labour unions say.
The country braces for further global financial turmoil triggered by US tariffs.
[Aljazeera]
King Charles and Queen Camilla have had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican where he wished them a happy 20th wedding anniversary.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen said they were “delighted the Pope was well enough to host them – and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person”.
The meeting took place on the third day of their state visit to Italy and ahead of a state banquet in Rome on Wednesday evening.
It is understood the meeting was only confirmed on Wednesday morning. It came after previous plans for the couple to meet the pontiff in a state visit to the Vatican were postponed because of the Pope’s ill health.
(BBC)
Woman jailed over £39 donation to Ukraine freed in US-Russia prisoner swap
Enforcing the law against bribery and corruption is not an act of political revenge but a profound human responsibility – President
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