As we witnessed earlier this week, Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt appeared in Minsk requesting “political asylum” from persecution in Poland. Szmydt had earlier been associated with an operation to discredit opponents of PiS’s attack on the independent judiciary (at the time called a “reform” by PiS supporters.)
There have been several reports confirming that Szmydt had access to large amounts of sensitive data, including classified data, so his "defection" represents a considerable security threat to Poland and NATO.
This appears to be a pre-election gift to the ruling party, as it exposes treachery at the heart of the rival, previous coalition under Law and Justice (PiS).
Accusations of collaboration with Russia have been common from Law and Justice politicians (PiS) against Tusk as well as on both sides in Polish social media comments, but they are nearly always unsubstantiated suspicions or insults. The Szmydt case is shocking because his relations with Russia and Belarus have been confirmed by the "suspect’s" ongoing behaviour.
Rzeczpospolita, in an opinion piece, has warned that Tusk’s government must be careful how it handles the Szmydt case. It indeed looks like a pre-election gift – proof that there were national traitors working closely with the previous government, the ministry of justice under Zbigniew Ziobro in particular.
In the runup to next month's EU elections, this conveniently undermines a core value of PiS – patriotism/nationalism - in the eyes of public opinion.
However, the Rzeczpospolita piece also points to risks in attacking Szmydt. Public opinion may also ask why it has taken 6 months for the new government to find out about his activities.
National security presumably should be a subject for cross-party cooperation rather than day-to-day party politics or electioneering.
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Source: Wprost, Radio Poland, Rzeczpospolita