Фото: www.gov.pl
Poland has managed to significantly neutralize the intelligence activities of Russian and Belarusian special services. This was stated in an interview with Rzeczpospolita by Radosław Kujawa, deputy coordinator of the country’s special services.
“Russian intelligence services pursue global goals, while Belarusian services view Poland as a serious threat. From the perspective of the military intelligence services of both countries, we are a border state on whose territory military operations could take place in the future.
For this reason they regard our military and civilian facilities as the rear of a potential front. We observe this increased interest, but in recent years we have also managed to detect and largely neutralize the intelligence activity of both Russian and Belarusian special services. We understand their interests in considerable detail, as well as the means they use to carry out their tasks,” he said.
The general also noted that Poland is relatively resilient to the penetration of Belarusian and Russian intelligence services into the political elite. At the same time, the business sector is more prone to risky behavior.
“Companies focus on making money, and many of them complain about the inability to conduct ‘normal’ trade, for example with Belarus, or to trade raw materials such as coal with Russia. They are more inclined toward risky and careless behavior, which poses a threat.
It is also telling that for more than twelve years of the Ukrainian-Russian war it has not been easy to break economic and trade ties between companies in the two countries. Despite the sanctions introduced, there are many cases in the Western world of their violation and attempts to find ways around them. Potential contractors are interested in profit, so they look for ways to achieve it. And the ‘partners’ on the other side are intelligence officers,” he said.
Kujawa also described the risk of Belarusian and Russian intelligence services using diasporas, including the Ukrainian one, as high.
“Experience shows that emigrant communities are always vulnerable to infiltration by intelligence services. Moreover, during wartime it is easy to change one’s identity or use forged documents. It is no coincidence that the Russians use Ukrainians from occupied territories to carry out their missions, as they can supply them with any documents, and by directing their activities against Poland they also seek to divide our societies.
Germany has had a large Russian diaspora for many years. This community naturally represents a significant threat factor, and I believe this circumstance influences the work of German counterintelligence. We must understand that citizens of Russia and Belarus, including those living in the West, are subject to pressure from their services, which have an authoritarian nature. They use a whole range of dependencies as well as blackmail to discipline and control these people,” he said.
The general was also asked about the use of “honey traps” by Belarusian intelligence services.
“From the perspective of intelligence services, any means are acceptable if they lead to a specific goal, for example obtaining necessary information or creating favorable operational conditions. And this applies to any category of people who may be operationally useful. Therefore the method you mentioned may in some cases be completely useless, while in others it may be considered an acceptable option. In the case of the agent who worked at the Ministry of National Defence, it turned out to be useless,” he replied.
Recently, a civilian official from Poland’s Ministry of National Defence was detained. He is suspected of working for the Belarusian KGB.