The scandal comes as Poland pushes for a further military buildup in response to what it describes as a threat from Russia
Hundreds of pages of sensitive Polish military documents, including secret papers pertaining to weapons, evacuations, and warehouse blueprints, were found dumped at a landfill, according to an investigation published by the news outlet Onet on Thursday.
The scandal surfaced just over a month after Warsaw pledged to outspend all other NATO states, allocating 4.8% of GDP to its army next year. EU governments have increasingly pushed for military buildups, citing an alleged threat from Russia – claims that Moscow has dismissed.
The Polish military denied the report, instead accusing the outlet of holding unauthorized copies of the documents, and insisting the originals were properly archived or destroyed, Onet wrote.
According to the outlet, an individual handed over the documents after finding them in torn plastic bags at a landfill. While some of the documents were shredded, many were intact and marked “restricted,” it wrote.
The leak is “a scandal” the level of “an atomic bomb,” Onet cited former commander of the Eurocorps, Lieutenant General Jaroslaw Gromadzinski, as saying.
Another official, who was granted anonymity, reportedly said that dumping such documents represents gross negligence and “a real threat.”
The reported incident comes less than a year after another major scandal in the Polish military.
In January, the Polish Defense Ministry lost track of 240 anti-tank mines, which were eventually found near an IKEA warehouse. A general was later dismissed as a result.
The recent EU and NATO military buildups and bellicose rhetoric have raised concerns in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained that claims that Russia intends to attack the US-led military bloc are “nonsense.”
Last month, he sounded the alarm over the deterioration of international security cooperation, and warned of the danger that it will further break down. Despite this, “Russia is capable of responding to any existing and newly emerging threats,” he said.
