Poland shaken by reports that consular officials took bribes to help migrants enter Europe and U.S.

The Law and Justice party is being rocked by reports that Polish consulates issued visas in Africa and Asia in exchange for bribes, opening the door for migrants to enter the European Union - which some hoped to use as a way into the United States.

Law and Justice has been the election frontrunner in a field of several parties, and it’s not clear if the affair will dent its support. But opposition politicians have seized on the “visa affair,” accusing the government of corruption and hypocrisy, given its strong anti-immigrant rhetoric. Media reports allege Poland’s consular sections issued about 250,000 visas to migrants from Asia and Africa since 2021 in return for bribes of several thousand dollars each. Poland is a member of the EU’s visa-free zone known as Schengen, and once those migrants arrived in Poland they could cross Europe’s borders freely.

The state prosecutor’s office said Thursday it charged seven people suspected of corrupt activities in accelerating visa procedures, with three of them under temporary arrest. Wawrzyk had been responsible for preparing a regulation making it easier for foreign workers from countries including Iran, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates to enter Poland.

The governing party fought back with new election videos on social media seeking to link the leading opposition leader, Donald Tusk, to widespread migration to Europe in his past roles. Tusk was the Polish prime minister from 2007 to 2014, and was president of the European Council, an EU body, from 2014 to 2019.

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