The Polish Foreign Ministry, as part of the “decommunization” process, fired employees who were educated at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau spoke about this in an interview with Gazeta Polska Codziennie.
According to him, the last MGIMO graduates were fired from the ministry two months ago. “We have managed to close a very important process, which is part of the broadly understood decommunization,” Rau said, noting that this was possible thanks to the lustration laws adopted in Poland.
“This institution was part of the great project of Soviet imperialism. MGIMO was an investment in the functioning of this imperialism. This is part of the Soviet soft power. Graduates were supposed to serve the interests of this empire,” the Foreign Minister explained.
According to Rau, Moscow university graduates do not necessarily work for Russia, but there is a danger that they could be used by foreign intelligence without realizing it.
As Rau said, he asked for lists of employees who graduated from MGIMO immediately after being appointed head of the ministry in 2020. However, a mechanism to get rid of diplomats whose loyalty to the interests of the Polish state was in doubt appeared only after amendments were made to the law on the diplomatic service. This mechanism, in particular, includes a check by the Security Service, which issues a conclusion on the reliability of the employee.
“When we started this procedure, only 38 MGIMO graduates were working [at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]. Some retired, some just quit. Of the 38 people, 37 received negative feedback, that is, only one remained. Most of them worked in Poland, and six people worked in foreign offices,” Rau said. He also said that four dismissed employees filed a lawsuit against the agency.
Rau stressed that today there are no MGIMO graduates in the Polish Foreign Ministry. It is not clear from the interview what became of the only diplomat who successfully passed the screening.