On 21 September, Polish Undersecretary of State Paweł Jabłoński, who is attached to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, replied to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, who two days earlier had asked the minister to shed full light on the scandal of Schengen visas being sold in various Polish foreign representations, particularly in Africa and Asia.
However, spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said on 22 September that the European Commission had already judged these responses “insufficient”, and was expecting further explanations by 3 October, the date set by Commissioner Johansson in her initial letter.
In particular, the Commission is awaiting further details on the type and number of visas concerned.
Seven people linked to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs are suspected of having received sums of money to speed up procedures in several thousand cases (around 250,000 cases, according to the Polish opposition).
In its response, seen by EUROPE, the Ministry refutes the figures of hundreds of thousands of short-stay visas granted to people from Asia and Africa and explains that, over the period of the survey (1.5 years), more than 500,000 work visas were issued, but 80% of these were for Ukrainian and Belarusian citizens, and only 767 short-stay Schengen visas for work purposes were issued.
The letter also explains that the government and its anti-corruption agencies took the necessary measures back in 2022 when they became aware of certain irregularities.
Charges have since been brought against 7 people. The letter also denies any involvement of Polish consuls and denies the existence of a case, accusing the Polish opposition of playing politics. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)