cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11837709
Poland is probing what officials said was a “possible assassination” risk to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the country’s defense minister, with a special meeting of the security services convened on Sunday after emailed threats were received.
Speaking after the meeting, Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the minister overseeing Poland’s intelligence services, warned there was a “high likelihood” that threats against Tusk and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz would be carried out.
He said the information had initially reached the State Protection Service, which is responsible for protecting senior government officials, before being passed to police for further verification.
The meeting brought together representatives of the police, the State Protection Service and Poland’s ABW domestic intelligence agency at its counterterrorism center in Warsaw.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Gałecka said Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński and intelligence services coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak had ordered the agencies to take action.
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In August, Polish police detained a 23-year-old man accused of calling for the assassination of senior politicians.
Sunday’s announcement came as authorities in Poland have been on high alert following a wave of violence at schools that resulted in the death of a 37-year-old female janitor on Thursday.
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Across Europe, spy agencies have warned that Russia steps up bid to kill European defence chiefs (Archived).
Western intelligence agencies have warned Europe’s defence bosses that Russia is stepping up efforts to assassinate them, prompting companies to increase personal security around their top executives.
With progress on the battlefield deadlocked in Ukraine and Russia’s economy struggling, the Kremlin has ordered an expansion of sabotage and “hybrid” operations in Europe as it seeks to fatally weaken support for Kyiv in the coming months.
Assassinations against European civilian targets — once considered taboo, even by Russia’s spy agencies — are an increasingly prominent part of those plans, European intelligence services have said.
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Executives at smaller companies — especially those involved in the manufacturing of drones or their components — are also in their sights, the people said.
“The threat level has risen in Europe. To property but also to people,” said one senior European intelligence official.
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