Russia offered Polish citizens a financial reward for the publication of misinformation, adds Deputy Prime Minister of the Polish government.
Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski accused Russia of trying to influence the presidential election on Tuesday. According to him, Moscow tried to recruit Polish citizens through the so -called. Darknetu. This part of the Internet out of the reach of search engines is often used to commit crime. TASR writes according to Reuters.
According to Gawkowski, Russia was looking for Polish citizens to be willing to influence the presidential campaign by spreading misinformation. It offered them 3000 to 4000 euros.
“This is money from the Russian GRU and FSB services,” Gawkowski told Reuters with reference to Russian military intelligence and civil intelligence service. The Deputy Prime Minister claims that Russian activities have been following the Polish authorities since the beginning of the year.
According to the Polish Government Committee investigative report, Moscow is trying to achieve information domination in the country through influencing social processes, discussions and information systems.
Poland is one of the main goals
According to Warsaw, Poland is one of the main targets of Russian disinformation, spy and sabotage operations, because this is where western weapons flow into Ukraine. The Kremlin denies these accusations.
Presidential elections in Poland will take place in May. In the surveys, the prime minister’s candidate is led by the Civic Platform and Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski. Five years ago he was defeated by current President Andrzej Duda. The opposition party Law and Justice for the elections nominated the chairman of the Institute of Memory of the Nation Karol Nawrocký, who is second in the surveys. The third is the candidate of the extreme right -wing Confederation Slawomir Mentzen.
Reuters recalls that the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the presidential election in December because the news services received information about the extensive interference of Russia in the campaign and the election process. They won the previously unknown pro -Russian candidate Calin Georgescu.
