Czech Prime Minister Criticizes Intelligence Service Over Disinformation Campaign

Andrej Babiš said he should have learned about the campaign much earlier. After a government meeting, the Czech prime minister accused the Foreign Intelligence Service, known as UZSI, of failing to do its job.

The operation sought to create the impression that Poland wanted to annex part of the Czech Republic. It used fabricated websites resembling those of Czech public broadcaster and a fake social media profile for the Czech ambassador in Warsaw.

Security experts suspect the campaign was professionally organized. Its backers have not been identified, and it is not known whether Russia was involved.

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I should have received this information much earlier.

Babiš eventually responded by sharing a post from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X. Tusk's message made clear that the Czech Republic and Poland are firm allies. Both countries belong to NATO and support Ukraine.

The campaign touched on a territorial issue that has largely been settled for decades. A 1958 border treaty between Poland and then-Czechoslovakia fixed the frontier along the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder, after years of disputes. Nationalist politicians still occasionally call for border changes. The two countries also retain minority ties: about 38,000 people in the Czech Republic identified as members of the Polish minority in the 2021 census, while 7,800 people in Poland identified as belonging to the Czech minority. Poland's constitution officially recognizes the Czech minority.

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failed to do its job