Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty announced that he and Senate Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska have refused to provide an opinion on the Military Information Services (WSI) report annex and will return the documents to the President.
Opposition to the Disclosure of Classified Names
Włodzimierz Czarzasty stated during a meeting in Nakło nad Notecią that he and Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska had decided against providing an opinion on the document. He confirmed that all records will be returned to President Karol Nawrocki.
Czarzasty argued that the annex contains 1,000 anonymized names of Polish intelligence officers, claiming that foreign services could easily identify these individuals through context, thereby compromising national security and international trust.
Concerns Over National Security and Geopolitics
Emphasizing the current geopolitical climate, Czarzasty questioned the wisdom of revealing intelligence contacts during an ongoing war. He asserted that such a move would undermine the credibility of Polish services in the eyes of international allies.
The Speaker stressed that protecting the identities of these individuals is a matter of state interest. He explicitly stated that he and his fellow democrats would not agree to actions that jeopardize the safety or trust in Polish security services.
The Procedural Status of the WSI Annex
President Karol Nawrocki previously initiated a formal process aimed at declassifying the annex, submitting the documents to the speakers of both houses for their review. Presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz clarified that while these opinions are not legally binding, they serve as a formal element of the declassification procedure.
Historical Context of the WSI Liquidation
The controversy surrounding the WSI report dates back to 2007, following the liquidation of the services in 2006. The original report, overseen by Antoni Macierewicz, faced significant legal scrutiny, including a 2008 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that addressed constitutional concerns regarding the rights of those mentioned in the findings.
Despite various proposals for its release, subsequent presidents, including Lech Kaczyński, Bronisław Komorowski, and Andrzej Duda, have declined to publish the annex, citing legal and substantive concerns regarding its contents.