Authorities: The equipment in the meeting hall of the Polish government was not used for eavesdropping

The device, which was found by the Polish security services in Katowice in the hall where the Polish government will meet, was part of a disused sound system. According to Polish media, the spokeswoman for the Silesian Voivodeship, Alicja Waliszewská, said this. Jacek Dobrzyński, a spokesman for the government’s intelligence coordinator, initially reported that it was a listening device.

“An element of an old sound system installed by a worker who is now retired was found,” explained Waliszewská. She added that it was a device that “doesn’t serve any purpose” and that members of government security and counterintelligence had found it during a routine check before a cabinet meeting.

Today, Prime Minister Tusk opened the European Economic Congress together with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Katowice. The government has energy related items on its agenda.

The head of the prime minister’s office, Jan Grabiec, said after the initial announcement of the discovery of the listening device that security checks of the rooms are always carried out before the government meetings and regardless of where they are held. He pointed out that there are various actors who are interested in knowing what the Polish cabinet is discussing.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has reported several times about the capture of people working for the Russian secret services. The country is one of Kyiv’s key allies, it is also important for the logistics of military aid deliveries to Ukraine.

On Monday, the Polish Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had begun investigating the case of a judge of the Warsaw Administrative Court who had applied for asylum in Belarus under the espionage section. The Secret Service is investigating what top secret information the judge had access to. The man explained his escape to Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia, by saying that he does not agree with the policy of the Polish government towards these countries.