Polish parliament upholds crypto veto, brushing aside PM's Russia warning

By Alan Charlish and Barbara Erling

WARSAW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Poland's government failed to overturn a presidential veto of a bill regulating cryptocurrencies on Friday, hampering its bid to increase oversight of a market it says is plagued by money laundering and open to exploitation by Russian intelligence.

    The clash over the cryptocurrency bill is the latest chapter in a bitter feud between liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk and nationalist President Karol Nawrocki at a time when Warsaw faces what it says is a growing threat from Moscow.

    "There's no doubt that this market is highly susceptible to exploitation by foreign services, intelligence agencies, and mafias," Tusk told parliament. "The challenge is for the state to provide the tools to ensure it's not helpless."

Tusk addressed lawmakers in a closed session before the open debate to present "urgent information concerning national security". In a post on X he portrayed the vote as "Russian money and services versus the security of the state and citizens".

RIGHT-WING PARTIES SAY REGULATIONS EXCESSIVE

    The bill would have implemented the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), giving Poland's financial regulator supervisory powers over the cryptocurrency market and introducing criminal liability for offences concerning the issuing of tokens or the provision of crypto-asset services.

    Nawrocki and right-wing parties in parliament say the bill would drive crypto firms away due to excessive burdens and that other EU member states have implemented MiCA with much simpler and less restrictive legislation.

"To stand on this podium and say, 'Either you vote for the Russian mafia or you vote for my bill' is to give a false choice and you know it perfectly well," the chief of the president's chancellery Zbigniew Bogucki said.

    He called on the government to work together with the presidential palace on drafting new legislation.

The government would have needed a three-fifths majority with at least half of lawmakers voting to overturn the veto.

    While lawmakers remained tight-lipped over the content of the closed session, state news agency PAP cited sources as saying Tusk spoke about Russia's involvement in cryptocurrency scandals.

    Poland's security services have said in the past that Moscow has used cryptocurrencies to pay people to carry out sabotage, allegations that Russia has repeatedly denied.

Officials in many European Union countries have reported a growing number of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and drone incursions this year.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Barbara Erling and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Philippa Fletcher)