Organized crime is behind the leaked secret recordings of officials' private conversations that have plunged the Polish government into a crisis, the foreign minister asserted Monday.
Radek Sikorski spoke a day after the magazine Wprost released a transcript of a conversation in which he says Poland's alliance with the U.S. is worthless and harmful for Poland.
"The government was attacked by an organized crime group," Sikorski said in Luxembourg as he arrived for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers. "We do not know who stands behind it; we are not certain yet. But it is being checked and I hope the justice system determines the identities of the group members and, above all, of the masterminds."
He offered no proof for his statement.
Critics have demanded that Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government resign since the conversations of top leaders started being leaked more than a week ago. Eavesdropping is a crime under Polish law. The magazine says the recordings came from a "businessman" who did not do the taping and they were made in the private VIP rooms of Warsaw restaurants.
In the transcript released by Wprost, Sikorski used vulgar terms while telling former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski the Polish-U.S. alliance is not helping Poland.
"The Polish-U.S. alliance is not worth anything. It is even harmful because it gives Poland a false sense of security," Sikorski said. "{We are] suckers, total suckers."
Sikorski also said the alliance with the U.S. could alienate two key neighbors of Poland, Russia and Germany.
Earlier, Wprost released a conversation between Central Bank head Marek Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz discussing how the bank could help the governing party win re-election in 2015, a seeming violation of the bank's independence.
See also:
Leaked Tape Reveals Polish Foreign Minister Considers U.S. Alliance Worthless
