Poland: Four Tajikistan Men Charged With Recruiting Terrorists For Islamic State

poland police
WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Polish authorities have arrested four men from Tajikistan for allegedly trying recruiting Muslim converts in order for them to commit terrorist attacks in the name of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The Tajik men were arrested by Border Guard officers as they attempted to re-enter the country, based on evidence from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW).  The security service alleged that they were attempting to carry out terrorist activities in the country, according to government spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn.

“They were trying to recruit people who could be used to commit some kind of terrorist crimes,” Zaryn told Reuters, adding: “They were inspired by ISIS (Islamic State) … but they were not a part of the organisation.”

“Polish Internal Security Agency does not mess around,” he prounounced on social media.

The four men will be deported from the country and will be placed on a list barring them from returning to Poland or, theoretically, any other nation in the European visa-free Schengen zone.

Last month, another four men from Tajikstan were arrested in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, after authorities claimed that the men were plotting terrorist attacks on American military bases in the area.

In 2017, Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki said that the only way to prevent Islamic terror attacks is to prevent Islamic immigration.

“When it comes to reducing the chances of Poland being hit by [Islamist] terror attacks, the only proven method is to not allow in Muslim migrants,” Czarnecki said.

“Fortunately, Poland does not make these mistakes that other countries have made when it comes to our immigration policy, and so we don’t have these headaches,” he added.

In September of 2019, the Polish government rejected the European Union’s migrant redistribution proposal, that would have seen migrants residing in nations like Italy and Greece and brought to Poland.

In rejecting the deal, the Polish ambassador to Rome, Anna Maria Anders said: “The EU wants redistribution, but we do not change our point of view. Warsaw is already doing so much. In Poland, there are two million Ukrainians, many of whom have fled from war zones. They integrate well, share in part our language, traditions, and culture.”

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

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