NIK’s reports to the Prosecutor’s Office of possible criminal activity (referred to in the Penal Code) regarding 11 public officers were related to exceeding their powers or failing to comply with their duties, thus acting to the detriment of the public interest. With regard to one of those individuals, NIK filed a report of substantial material damage to the State Treasury.
The first of the reports dealt with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowing accession and implementation of the programme Poland. Business Harbour which was not accepted by any authority and not listed in any document. As a consequence, more than 95 thousand visas were issued in 2020-2023. The programme was implemented from 9 September 2020 to 26 January 2024 without any legal basis, of which the following authorities were aware: the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Undersecretary of State as well as successive directors of the Consular Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme was not adopted by the Council of Ministers, nor was it introduced as a ministerial programme. There was also no legally binding document describing the programme, particularly its legal basis, objectives, participants, tasks, expected effects, etc. Special rights granted with this type of visas combined with few requirements for the programme participants made it possible for tens of thousands of foreigners, from Belarus and Russia in particular, to enter the territory of the Republic of Poland. Those individuals could work in Poland without a permit and could run their businesses on the same terms as Polish citizens. This process remained beyond the supervision or interest of the MFA management and successive directors of the MFA Consular Department. According to the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, the above could significantly reduce security of the Polish state and could harm the public interest.
The second report referred to the MFA employees, including the ministry’s management board, making requests to Polish consuls regarding the acceptance of visa applications out of turn, speeding up their processing, making certain decisions in relation to specific persons, or issuing visas without the applicants’ personal appearance. Those activities were usually carried out via diplomatic notes, i.e. official correspondence between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic establishments. Such pressure on consuls was often related to foreigners who obtained work permits thanks to specialised companies that intervened in this matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Based on the said diplomatic notes, lists of names of foreigners were provided to the Polish consuls, with a request to review specific visa applications in a given period, without good reason.
Another report dealt with the organisation and conduct of a visit to the Polish consulate in Mumbai at the beginning of 2023, in a way which was to persuade the consul to issue positive visa decisions for the appealing foreigners. That was a breach of the Consular Law, which guarantees the consuls’ independence when reviewing specific cases. The course of the visit indicates that it violated the consul’s independence as it was to impact his decisions concerning visa applications.
The last report concerned the decision to lease properties in Łódź and Kielce to develop the Visa Decision Centre (from Polish: CDW) and the Consular Information Centre (from Polish: CIK). In NIK's opinion, these decisions were not justified in substantive, organisational or economic terms. As a result of those activities at least PLN 681.9 thousand was spent on the lease and utilisation of the buildings. In addition, the lease agreements for the properties in Łódź and Kielce were structured in a way which made their termination practically impossible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the stage of developing the concept of CDW and CIK development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to make necessary analyses. Besides, the Ministry had the property in Warsaw with usable land at its disposal, which was sufficient to expand the said Centres.
