POLAND: Mismanagement of Funds & more – 23rd Oct 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 23rd of October twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with updates on the legal front. On Tuesday, the 21st, the prosecutor’s office officially criticized Michał Woś, former Deputy Justice Minister and current Law and Justice MP, over his decision to give twenty-five million złoty, around six million dollars, from the Justice Fund to the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau or CBA to buy the Pegasus spy system.

The prosecutor said Woś overstepped his authority while managing the Justice Fund, but Woś said he didn’t personally buy Pegasus and only legally approved the money for the CBA, which uses it to catch criminals across Europe. He added that it was completely legal and he doesn’t regret the decision.

Woś also criticized Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, and Waldemar Żurek, the current Justice Minister and Prosecutor General, saying their reaction is over the top and that they oppose Pegasus just like criminals dislike the police.

Also on Tuesday, the 21st, the Supreme Audit Office revealed that Karol Nawrocki, the current President and the former head of the Institute of National Remembrance, broke the law governing the institute. They will send a report to the prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether to press charges.

The audit found that the Institute mismanaged its funds between twenty twenty-two and twenty twenty-five, wasting nearly forty-five percent of its forty-eight million złoty budget, which is about thirteen million dollars.

Nawrocki created six new education departments and appointed directors without following legal procedures. He also tried to set up a permanent office in Washington, even though the law doesn’t allow foreign branches.

In another legal case, on Friday, the 17th, a Polish court refused to extradite Volodymyr Zhuravlov, a forty-nine-year-old Ukrainian, to Germany. Germany accused him of helping cause the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in twenty twenty-two, but Poland released him from pretrial detention. Germany can still appeal the decision.

The judge said that the blasts happened in international waters and if Zhuravlov acted on a military mission, Ukraine would be responsible, not him personally.

Experts called the ruling unusual and warned it could affect future European Arrest Warrant cases.

Zhuravlov denies involvement and says he was in Ukraine at the time. Italy also blocked the extradition of another Ukrainian in the same case.

Next up, on Monday, the 20th, police arrested a forty-four-year-old man for trying to set fire to the Civic Platform office in Warsaw. Witnesses said two men showed up with a bottle of flammable liquid, tried to throw it at the office doors, and shouted hateful slogans.

A bystander pushed one of them away, causing the bottle to break in front of a café and scorch the door, but nobody was hurt. Police said the man already had a record from May twenty twenty-five, when he threatened Prime Minister Donald Tusk online, and a court fined him 3,000 złoty, about 800 dollars, in September for that.

Marcin Kierwiński, the Interior Minister, said the case was clearly politically motivated. Police are still investigating whether anyone else was involved.

Speaking of Kierwiński, on Tuesday, the 21st, he said that Polish border guards found an illegal tunnel running from Belarus into Poland.

The tunnel stretches about thirty meters, roughly 100 feet, from Belarusian territory onto private land in Poland, and judging by fresh footprints and surveillance, authorities figured it had only been used for a day.

Kierwiński said migrants built the tunnel, apparently with help from Belarusian security services. He added that Poland’s borders cover around ninety-eight percent of the frontier and get stronger every month, making illegal crossings difficult.

This is the second tunnel border guards have found in recent weeks. They spotted it through ongoing surveillance. Some people did manage to cross illegally through the tunnel, but authorities caught them quickly.

Meanwhile, in controversial news, on Tuesday, the 21st, Polish private news television channel VN24 reported that Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the former first lady, was set to become an advisor to Adam Glapiński, the National Bank of Poland’s president, after her name showed up in the bank’s email system and then disappeared shortly after.

In the afternoon, the bank’s spokesperson denied that she had advised them but did not explain why her name had appeared in the system. Politicians accused the Law and Justice party of seeking a way to finance Kornhauser-Duda. The controversy grew because she has no financial or business experience, having only studied German and taught in high school.

The story also added fuel to criticism of political appointments at the bank, like Andrzej Dera, a former Law and Justice official with no finance background, who got a job in the bank's Legal Department.

In other news, on Tuesday, the 21st, Poland and Sweden signed a deal at the Polish-Swedish Defense Industry Forum in Warsaw to deepen cooperation between their defense industries.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Polish Deputy PM and Defense Minister, said Sweden boosted alliance activities after joining NATO, especially in the Baltic Sea. Pål Jonson, the Swedish Defense Minister, said the partnership is key to regional security and prosperity and that Europe needs to ramp up defense production.

Recent deals between countries include Poland buying planes from the Swedish aerospace company Saab and Carl-Gustaf anti-tank weapons from Sweden. Meanwhile, Sweden bought Piorun air-defense systems from Poland’s Mesko defense company.

On top of that, Saab is building two reconnaissance ships for the Polish Navy.

Following that, on Wednesday, the 22nd, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Polish Senate Speaker, and John McFall, UK Lord Speaker, visited NATO troops at the Orzysz training center in north-east Poland, met with commanders, and discussed the new Eastern Shield defense system and allied operations.

They also received updates on the NATO battle group stationed there since twenty seventeen and said that working closely with allied forces is key to keeping Eastern Europe safe.

Kidawa-Błońska also praised the training center, calling it a top spot for exercises and keeping troops prepared.

Switching gears to lawmaking, on Friday the 17th, the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, approved new traffic rules.

Kids under sixteen will have to wear helmets on bikes, e-scooters, and the minimum age to ride an e-scooter on public roads will rise to thirteen.

The law also toughens rules for repeat offenders. If someone drives with a suspended license, they can lose it permanently, and drivers who commit serious traffic violations won’t be able to erase their points through training.

In cultural updates, on Tuesday the 21st, the award ceremony of the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition took place at Warsaw’s Grand Theatre. President Karol Nawrocki attended and handed the main prize to the winner.

Eric Lu, the American pianist, took first place, followed by Kevin Chen from Canada, while Zitong Wang from China came in third. Piotr Alexewicz from Poland tied for fifth. Nawrocki said Chopin wasn’t just a musical genius but also a cultural diplomat who carried Poland in his heart even while living abroad.

Marta Cienkowska, the Culture Minister, said she had followed the competition every day for three weeks, not as a minister but as a listener—deeply moved and grateful for what she had heard.

Finishing off this edition on a positive note, on Sunday, the 19th, Adrian Gontarz and Krzysztof Pyra, two Polish anglers, set the world record by catching the longest catfish ever. The fish measured almost three meters, about ten feet, and weighed around 130 kg, about 290 pounds.

They hauled it in at the Rybnik reservoir, in southern Poland, during the Mikado Cup fishing competition.

The battle with the fish lasted two and a half hours, and they said they were equal parts excited and terrified when they saw its head—it was too big to lift by the jaw, so they used a rope to get it out of the water.

After setting the record, they released the fish back into the water.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

This past Saturday, we held a trial of a new kind of gathering. Highly structured but radically equal, very wild. No keynote speakers, no talking heads. Those who join decide who they talk to, but without knowing the identity of who they will meet, they propose and decide what they will discuss. Like we said. Wild, interested in what it was, check the show notes and if you’re interested, we can help you hold one in Poland.

Do zobaczenia!