European Interest

Ukrainian linked to conspiracy against the Polish government

Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0 pl
ABW headquarters at 2a Rakowiecka Street in Warsaw.

Denied entry to Poland and all other European Union member states, the head of a Poland-based organisation, Open Dialog Foundation, was deported to Kiev.

Polish security services confirmed on August 20 that they had “issued a negative opinion regarding” an application for a residence permit from Ludmiła Kozłowska. She is the Ukrainian national, who heads the Open Dialog Foundation, which has reportedly called for the overthrow of the Warsaw government.

“Mrs. Kozłowska has been banned from entering the territory of Poland and the EU,” Stanisław Żaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s security services chief, said in a statement.

As reported by The Local, the “negative opinion” issued by the Counterintelligence Department of Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) stems from “serious doubts regarding the funding of the Open Dialog Foundation Mrs. Kozlovska is running, which may produce further legal effects,” Żaryn said in his statement.

He added: “Given the statutory constraints as well as the ongoing tax inspection, for the time being no further details of this matter can be made available to the public.”

According to Polish public broadcaster TVP, Kozlovska was detained at an airport in Brussels on August 13 and deported to Kiev a day later.

According to a Moldova-based website, Kozlovska aided Russia in its “hybrid warfare” against the West.

The en.publika.md website has said that Kozlovska worked for “Russian services” to aid the Kremlin’s “war against Europe.” It also reported that the Open Dialog Foundation was known for its “aggressive” lobbying in European institutions “against the main enemies of Russia in Eastern Europe, Poland and Ukraine”.

According to Poland’s wpolityce.pl website, the Open Dialog Foundation “drew up a 16-point plan to overthrow the Polish government” last summer.

wpolityce.pl in December said it had seen “the Russian passports” of some of the people who were the foundation’s biggest donors from 2012 to 2014.

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