“Intelligence on the front line”. Siemoniak in the German press about the fight against sabotage

Polish special services respond to sabotage attempts and espionage activities and cooperate closely with partners in Germany, assured the Minister Coordinating Special Services, Tomasz Siemoniak, in an interview with the German daily “Die Welt”. He emphasized that intelligence and services are currently on the front line.

Siemoniak, when asked about hybrid war, emphasized that The activity of Russia and Belarus has been increasing in Poland for several weeks. He noted that Polish services respond to these actions, including: detaining people suspected of espionage.

He recalled that European services have been vigilant for years. “Even before Russia attacked Ukraine, we witnessed attacks on people in Great Britain or Germany. We are currently observing sabotage attempts in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, but also in Germany,” Siemoniak said.

The coordinator of the special services also assured that Poland cooperates closely with German partners. He said that he had a conversation with the federal plenipotentiary for intelligence services, Thorsten Frei. “From my experience at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I can confirm that in the field of threat prevention, there is also very good cooperation between the ministries of interior affairs of both countries (Poland and Germany – PAP),” Siemoniak emphasized.

He noted that European services operate today in an exceptionally demanding period, full of changes and reforms. “Threats such as sabotage must be responded to appropriately. Our partners, like us, know that this requires appropriate involvement of the intelligence services. Intelligence and secret services are on the front line,” he added.

Siemoniak emphasized that although the EU and many member states are economic powers, this does not fully translate into political and military strength. Therefore, as he pointed out, Europe must intensively strengthen its defense potential.

“There is awareness of this in individual European countries, but also on the part of the EU, which is providing funds to increase military potential. The response we must give to an increasingly dangerous world is: we must be strong, also militarily.” – noted the coordinator of special services.

Siemoniak also drew attention to the importance of the work of intelligence services in peacetime. “We must also guarantee internal security in times of peace. We must know who is in the country and whether anyone poses a threat. We must conduct counterintelligence, secure infrastructure, prevent sabotage and counteract disinformation. Of course, we must also inform politicians and decision-makers about all this. Cooperation between services in Europe and NATO, which has a long tradition, is important,” he concluded. (PAP)

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