Poland finds possible wiretaps in government meeting room

WARSAW

Poland's security services discovered possible listening devices on Tuesday in a room to be used for a government meeting in the southern city of Katowice.

The discovery comes at a time when the NATO member has become a target of pro-Kremlin espionage following Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The security services "detected and removed devices that could have been used to eavesdrop on conversations in the room where the cabinet will meet today in Katowice," security services spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski said on X.

The equipment could register audio as well as video, he told TVN24 television.

Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said an investigation was under way.

"It's tough to say whether these were devices installed years ago and not discovered earlier" or installed more recently, he told TVN24.

Declining to speculate on their origin, he said they were discovered during a routine sweep performed before every government meeting.

The discovery came a day after a Polish judge fled to neighboring Belarus and reportedly asked for asylum over spying allegations that he dismissed as "fabricated."

Prosecutors have launched an espionage probe into the judge.

Last month, a Russian historical reenactment fan was jailed in Poland for spying on the European Union country's military for Moscow.