On Wednesday, Germany demanded the government of Poland clear up “serious” visa allegations ahead of elections in Poland overwhelmed by immigration problems, sources in Berlin said.
The reports of Polish media said a scheme for giving out Schengen visas to people from the Middle East and Africa in exchange for money was placed in place through the Polish consulates and some exterior firms in the nations concerned.
Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister, had called her Poland counterpart and Warsaw’s representative to Berlin had been demand to occur at her ministry over the issue, officials said.
During the discussions, Berlin urged that Warsaw deliver “rapid and complete clarification” of the “serious” allegations.
The authorities say the system may have involved hundreds of Polish work visas, while the opposition says the real number could be about 250,000.
Polish secret service said last week that seven people had been jailed in the scandal ahead of the October 15 elections in which the governing party is heading on an anti-immigration platform.
Three of the seven are under detention, according to the prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the alleged racket for fraudulently getting visas.
The media of Poland have said that the foreign ministry was involved in the scheme, which the opponent Civic Platform party has branded “the major scandal in Poland in the 21st century”.
Piotr Wawrzyk, Deputy Foreign Minister, resigned over the scandal last week, though the official cause for his release was “absence of sufficient cooperation”.
