General Jarosław Stróżyk, head of the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), will be leading the commission.

“He has had a rich career as a diplomat, a military commander, the deputy head of NATO intelligence, and a scholar with a doctorate in security studies, a very competent person. His task will be to coordinate the commission, which will consist, as we will finally decide next week, of nine to 13 participants” Tusk said during Tuesday’s press conference.

Ministers will nominate candidates for the commission. Tusk noted that Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak would recommend two members, and mentioned contributions from the ministers of national defense, finance, foreign affairs, state assets, digital affairs, and culture and national heritage.

“To preempt questions and speculation, we also want to examine potential media influence. This is nothing new; we know well that this Russian and Belarusian subversion in Poland and Europe also concerns broadly understood social communication,” Tusk emphasized.

The Prime Minister stated that the first report would be expected after European elections in early June to avoid conflating the commission’s work with the election campaign. He emphasized that the commission would work discreetly, without a media presence, and provide systematic updates.

A preliminary report is anticipated in the summer, with a comprehensive description of the issues by the end of the year. However, Tusk clarified that this would not be an investigative commission but rather one that describes the issues.

The commission’s findings are expected to result in recommendations to the prosecutor's office and opinions on why these matters were previously unexamined.

New angle, old idea

Previously, a parliamentary commission initiated by PiS (Law and Justice party) investigated Russian influence. In its interim report on November 29, 2023, the commission suggested that due to their acknowledgment of the Russian Federal Security Service as a partner from 2010-2014, Donald Tusk, Jacek Cichocki, Bogdan Klich, Tomasz Siemoniak, and Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz should not hold public positions related to state security. The same day, the Sejm dismissed the commission members.

“It never crossed my mind that the commission’s work would result in something like banning Jarosław Kaczyński from running for parliament. (...) We will not target political opponents,” Tusk reassured on Tuesday.

In the context of countering Eastern influences, Tusk also spoke about pressure on Poland’s eastern border. “We have received confirmation that the pressure on Poland’s eastern border is not a spontaneous migration of people fleeing various countries Over 90% of those crossing the Polish border illegally have Russian visas,” the Prime Minister said.

“We have no doubts; the facts gathered by our services also confirm this: the Russian state is behind the organization of recruitment, transport, and subsequent attempts to smuggle thousands of people,” Tusk emphasized. He detailed that the operation mainly involves individuals from Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen, and Ethiopia, who travel by air to Moscow via “an Arab country” and then reach Belarus in an organized manner, by road or rail.

“Currently, several concentration points have been located in Russia, where large, organized groups of migrants are gathered. We are talking about thousands of people,” Tusk emphasized.