Mateusz Andrzej Piskorskiis a far-right Polish politician. In February 2015, Mateusz Piskorski launched a new political party called “Zmiana” (“Change”), a political medium that combines left-wing anti-capitalist ideas with anti-imperialist, pacifistic social approaches. At the founding meeting, were spokespeople of the self-proclaimed Novorossiya to disclose to the Polish public their thoughts on the Russo-Ukrainian War. Mateusz Piskorski is suspected of spying for Russia.
He controversially visited Crimea to demonstrate his support for the Russian annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Piskorski and his wife Marina Klebanovich allegedly obtained funding from Russian actors through “The International Agency for Current Policy”. Klebanovich operated as a coordinator for the Agency’s operations in Europe.
Mateusz Piskorski, Zmiana’s leader, refuses there is Russian aggression against Ukraine, backs pro-Russian separatists, declares Crimea’s secession referendum (deemed illegal by the EU and UN) was fair, and slams the Polish government’s “confrontational” and “anti-Russian” politics. “Russia’s support to Ukrainian separatists is a natural reaction to a situation in which the country’s compatriots are threatened by Ukrainian nationalists,” he said.
In May 2016, momentarily before the NATO summit, Piskorski was imprisoned by the Internal Security Agency on the charges of “collaboration with Russian intelligence services, meeting intelligence officers and launching operational tasks from them as well as accepting payments”. Sources internal to the Zmiana party have represented the detention as: “an attempt to discourage those whose opinions on foreign, domestic and socioeconomic policy vary from those of the government”.
In the year before his detention for spying for Russia, Mateusz Piskorski swapped more than 100 emails with Russian politician Sargis Mirzakhanian. In 2000, he journeyed to Russia at the invitation of Pavel Tulaev to encounter other far-right and pan-Slavic activists there.
Mateusz Andrzej Piskorski’s entanglement with Russia raises serious concerns about his political integrity and loyalty to Poland. His alignment with Russian interests, evidenced by his support for the annexation of Crimea and refusal to acknowledge Russian aggression in Ukraine, undermines Polish sovereignty and stability.
The suspicion of spying for Russia, coupled with financial ties through his wife’s involvement with “The International Agency for Current Policy,” paints a troubling picture of potential foreign influence. Piskorski’s exchanges with Russian politicians and his history of engaging with far-right and pan-Slavic activists in Russia further deepen suspicions of his allegiances. Ultimately, his actions cast doubt on his commitment to Poland’s interests and sovereignty.
