Poland raids prospective NATO office in Warsaw

[Syt]

http://www.ft.com/fastft/2015/12/18/poland-raids-nato-office-in-warsaw/

Poland raids NATO office in Warsaw

Poland has replaced the head of a NATO-affiliated facility in Warsaw during a midnight raid by defence ministry officials and military police on its office, in the latest move by the country's new government to take control of state agencies.

Defence personnel entered NATO's Counter Intelligence Center of Excellence in central Warsaw at 1:30am, to remove officials that were not supported by the new administration and appoint a new head, reports Henry Foy in Warsaw.

"This is about guaranteeing the normal functioning of state institutions, which unfortunately do not always function properly," deputy defence minister Bartosz Kownacki told RMF radio. "Really it was difficult to determine whether there are actually competent people... the previous management."

"The ministry of defence has the right to use all units that are under its sovereignty, including the Military Police," Mr Kownacki added.

The dramatic raid and management change, which was denounced by the previous head of the facility and by opposition politicians, is the latest move by the new right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party to consolidate its power in Poland by packing government agencies, security services, state-owned businesses and the judiciary with party loyalists.

Warsaw will host the biannual NATO summit next July, with Poland and other eastern European states keen for the alliance to offer more support to their defence capabilities in the face of a resurgent Russia.

A spokesman for the defence ministry said the previous head of the facility, which produces intelligence and research reports for NATO central command, had not responded to an order calling for his dismissal sent last week.

It was not immediately clear how the military personnel gained access to the building. The spokesman said the raid was "peaceful".

The facility, which is jointly funded and run by Slovak and Polish authorities, was set up in September and is in the process of being accredited by NATO.

A NATO official at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels said the raid was "an issue for the Polish authorities," that they were monitoring the situation

Former defence minister and senior opposition party MP Tomasz Siemoniak said the raid was "unprecedented. "This is probably the first time in NATO's history that an alliance member has attacked a NATO facility," he added.