Czech PM Babiš says intelligence failed over fake Poland annexation claims
Babiš blamed the foreign intelligence service (UZSI) for delayed reporting after fake websites and a bogus ambassador profile spread claims that Poland sought Czech territory.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš sharply criticized his country’s foreign intelligence service after authorities delayed informing the government about an organised disinformation campaign that sought to sow discord between the Czech Republic and Poland by spreading false claims Poland wanted to annex Czech territory.
“I should have had this information much earlier,” Babiš said after a government meeting, directly faulting the Office for Foreign Relations and Information (UZSI) for the late warning.
According to officials, the operation included fabricated versions of the Czech public broadcaster’s websites and a fake social media profile purporting to belong to the Czech ambassador in Warsaw. Security analysts say the campaign appears professionally organised, although investigators have not confirmed who is behind it; reports note that both the Czech Republic and Poland are NATO members and staunch supporters of Ukraine.
Pressure on intelligence and historical context
Babiš responded to the wave of disinformation by sharing a message from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on the social platform X, in which Tusk underlined that the two countries remain close allies. Prague has repeatedly rejected the fabricated territorial claims.
Census figures from 2021 show roughly 38,000 people in the Czech Republic identified as belonging to the Polish minority, while in Poland about 7,800 people declared membership in the Czech minority that same year; the Czech minority is recognised in Poland’s constitution. Since the 1958 border treaty between Poland and then-Czechoslovakia, the boundary along the Olza River (a tributary of the Oder) has largely been treated as settled, though nationalist politicians occasionally call for changes.
Authorities in Prague say the episode has highlighted gaps in the intelligence flow to the executive and called for a faster, more coordinated response to cross-border disinformation operations.
Photo: press material from the event
