File furor
Prime Minister Marek Belka's communist-era dossier was made public last week at his request in a bid to quash allegations linking him to the communist secret service.
The move followed a series of attacks from opposition politicians after Belka admitted that secret agents approached him before a trip he made to the United States more than 20 years ago. He emphatically denied ever spying for the organization.
Right-wing opposition politicians claimed entries in his file showed Belka had signed a document obliging him to cooperate with the secret service.
But Belka said the document cited in his file was a routine instruction for scholars and other professionals going abroad during the communist era. "I have signed the instruction and I didn't make a secret of it. But I did not treat it as a commitment to cooperate with secret services," he said.
Even Belka's political foes said there was no evidence he was a spy, but the opposition said a signed instruction amounted to a pledge of cooperation, and that Belka had lied during an inquiry when he denied signing such pledges.
However, Kwaśniewski said the PM had no case to answer: "Marek Belka has no reason to resign because of his files. I have been informed ... about the content of the file, with full gravity and strength I can say ... there is no argument that Marek Belka cannot serve as Prime Minister," Kwasniewski said. (Reuters)
The move followed a series of attacks from opposition politicians after Belka admitted that secret agents approached him before a trip he made to the United States more than 20 years ago. He emphatically denied ever spying for the organization.
Right-wing opposition politicians claimed entries in his file showed Belka had signed a document obliging him to cooperate with the secret service.
But Belka said the document cited in his file was a routine instruction for scholars and other professionals going abroad during the communist era. "I have signed the instruction and I didn't make a secret of it. But I did not treat it as a commitment to cooperate with secret services," he said.
Even Belka's political foes said there was no evidence he was a spy, but the opposition said a signed instruction amounted to a pledge of cooperation, and that Belka had lied during an inquiry when he denied signing such pledges.
However, Kwaśniewski said the PM had no case to answer: "Marek Belka has no reason to resign because of his files. I have been informed ... about the content of the file, with full gravity and strength I can say ... there is no argument that Marek Belka cannot serve as Prime Minister," Kwasniewski said. (Reuters)
