Intelligence and Security Sector Reforms in Greece, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Italy by Musa Khan Jalalzai

Author:Musa Khan Jalalzai [Jalalzai, Musa Khan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Intelligence & Espionage, Terrorism
ISBN: 9789389620894
Google: 41XmzQEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: VIJ BOOKS INDIA
Published: 2020-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The Polish Counterterrorism System and Hybrid Warfare Threats

Aleksandra Gasztold&PrzemysławGasztold

Abstratct

This article examines the origins, structure and role of the Polish counterterrorism system, which is then set against the rising threat posed by state and non-state actors employing hybrid warfare tools. We demonstrate the usefulness of anti-terrorist regulations, not only in counteracting terrorist groups, but also in the thwarting of operations engaged in by various entities waging hybrid warfare. We argue that lessons learned from the international struggle against terrorism can contribute to the development of proper prescriptions that seek to tackle hybrid threats. Extensive anti-terror instruments and measures implemented since 2016 are among the key elements in the contemporary defense and security doctrine being pursued by Poland. However, while the new regulations have provided intelligence agencies with strong powers that markedly enhance their capabilities regarding the recognition of hybrid threats, the same flexible legal regulations, subject to broad interpretation, may also serve a partisan agenda, and thus endanger the rule of law.

Keywords: Counterterrorism, hybrid warfare, Poland, terrorism, antiterrorist law

Introduction

Throughout May 2018, media outlets in Poland and elsewhere in Europe reported intensively on the arrest of two Russian women accused by the country’s Internal Security Agency (AgencjaBezpi eczeństwaWewnętrznego, or ABW) of pursuing a disinformation campaign and engaging in “hybrid activities.”1 Most news companies described the arrest of Jekaterina C. and Anastazja Z. as a prime example of the rising threat posed by Russia, and as ample proof regarding the hostile intentions of the Kremlin. Some journalists even claimed that a hybrid war against Poland might already have begun. Only a few pundits noted that the Internal Security Agency could not arrest anybody on suspicion of engagement in “hybrid activities,” because the Penal Code does not embrace “hybrid” offenses of any kind.

If someone is caught spying on behalf of a foreign country, or plots to commit a terrorist attack, and is then exposed, the state has at its disposal a plethora of special laws capable of being employed to tackle such threats. But there is hardly any state experience or practice on how to react to challenges arising from hybrid threats which might embrace various tools like espionage or terrorism. Russian annexation of Crimea, the invasion of eastern Ukraine and meddling in U.S. presidential elections combined to trigger a discussion among security pundits and scholars on the diverse nature of hybrid warfare. We argue that this term is too often examined through the perspective of information warfare, with the result that other components like terrorism are sometimes marginalized. Moreover, the war in Ukraine provides an excellent opportunity to look at hybrid warfare from the standpoint of terrorism studies. The ongoing conflict in Donbas embraces terrorist incidents, as well as other segments of hybrid warfare, thus allowing us to look broadly at these security threats and the ways in which they might be tackled.

The Kremlin’s malign activities within member countries of the EU and NATO also led to a debate on the taking of necessary legal countermeasures that might limit the scope of Moscow’s impudent activities.

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