When security systems fail, it usually happens not because of a lack of procedures, but due to the human factor hidden behind the facade of office. The last 48 hours in Europe show that democracy's corrective mechanisms only work when hard evidence is put on the table – whether after four decades or three weeks.
The Shadow of the White Elephant and Radio Silence. History likes to wait for justice, but it is rarely patient. The decision by the government in Madrid to declassify the files from February 23, 1981, known as 23-F, is not just a gesture toward historians, but a brutal reminder that the state can hide its mistakes for half a century. For 45 years, the identity of the so-called „White Elephant” – the alleged architect of the coup – remained in the realm of speculation, protected by a state secrets law from the 1960s. Today, as the series „Anatomy of a Moment” gathers 1.3 million viewers on the RTVE network, it is clear that institutional trauma does not expire with the passage of time. Spaniards still demand answers regarding the role of General Alfonso Armada and the loyalty of the services that were supposed to protect the nascent democracy.
Modern administration, however, has not learned the lessons of transparency, as painfully exposed by the hearings regarding the DANA floods. The testimony of Ernest, President Carlos Mazón's driver, before Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, shatters the narrative of the regional authorities. The ES-Alert system activated at 8:11 PM, but decision-makers were on the road at the time, physically and mentally cut off from the crisis management center in L'Eliana. This is a classic example of decision-making paralysis: the technology (Cell Broadcast) functions, but the human link fails. The resignation of Raúl Quílez, director of innovation, and the disclosure of recordings from Cecopi prove that in extreme situations, officials are more concerned with protecting their own image than coordinating rescue efforts.
„La clave del 23-F sigue estando en el sumario judicial: „Es la base”. Acceder a él y al resto de documentos desclasificados es esencial para arrojar luz sobre un episodio que muchos aún conservan muy vivo en la memoria.” (The key to 23-F still lies in the judicial records. It is the foundation. Accessing it and the remaining documents is essential to shed light on an episode that many still have vividly in their memory.) — Pedro CuartangoArbitrariness in the Shadow of Offices. At the same time, the Polish public scene provides evidence that threats to state stability do not always come from the outside. The dismissal of Maciej Morawski from the position of CEO of AMW Kwatera is a glaring example of how easily an individual can bypass corporate safeguards. The sale of a plot in Sulejówek, valued at over 11 million PLN, without the required board approval, constitutes a violation of the fundamental principle of collegiality. The fact that the matter was brought to light by journalists from Radio ZET and Newsweek, rather than the internal control systems of the Military Property Agency (AMW), is alarming. A company managing the assets of soldiers, where Marek Babuśka becomes an advisor, should be a fortress of procedures, yet it turned out to be a private fiefdom of a single signature.
This incident takes on particular significance in the context of real hybrid threats. While the CEO of a state-owned company makes arbitrary financial decisions, ABW (Internal Security Agency) officers must neutralize foreign intelligence at Chopin Airport. The detention of a Belarusian citizen with 111 kg of hashish, who was scouting strategic facilities, and the apprehension by the CBŚP (Central Investigation Bureau of Police) of a spy working for China, shows the scale of the challenge. The services are fighting an external enemy testing NATO defense systems using drones, while behind the front lines, the standards for managing public property are eroding. The contrast between the effectiveness of counterintelligence and the recklessness of ownership supervision at AMW is striking.
The Military Property Agency has for years played a key role in the modernization of the Polish army, transferring profits from real estate sales to the Armed Forces Modernization Fund. Any irregularity in this sector directly hits the state's defense potential, which, in the face of the war across the eastern border, has a strategic rather than just an economic dimension.The Democratic Safety Brake. Where officials and managers fail, the sovereign steps in, forcing real-time corrections. In Kraków, President Aleksander Miszalski performed a sharp U-turn, restoring free Sunday parking for Kraków Card holders. This decision, set to take effect on May 1, 2026, does not stem from a sudden economic epiphany, but from cold political calculation. The specter of a referendum, signed by nearly 55,000 residents, proved to be a more effective tool of persuasion than months of social consultations.
The referendum initiative, supported by Łukasz Gibała's circle, became a catalyst for change that was missing in Spanish Valencia or Warsaw's AMW Kwatera before the crisis erupted. Residents of Kraków, tired after the 22-year era of Jacek Majchrowski, are not giving the new government a leap of faith. They demand audits and rational budget management, not political experiments. This is a lesson for the entire political class: the mechanisms of direct democracy, though rarely used, remain the ultimate safety fuse that can stop even the most runaway bureaucratic machine.
Dynamics of support for the referendum in Kraków: Current status: 54537, Required minimum: 51000
One could argue that the described cases are merely individual errors and that the systems ultimately worked: Morawski lost his job, the spies were arrested, and the President of Kraków changed his mind. However, such thinking is a trap. In each of these cases, the reaction occurred post factum – after trust was lost, after military property was jeopardized, after 230 people died in Spain. An effective state is one that prevents pathologies, not just cleans up after them once the milk has been spilled and the media has amplified the issue.
The future of these matters will depend on the determination to enforce accountability. In Spain, the key will be identifying the „White Elephant” and judging those guilty of negligence during the floods. In Poland – tightening supervision over companies like AMW Kwatera and maintaining counterintelligence vigilance on the eastern flank. Without this, we will remain with a system that works only in theory, while in practice, it depends on whether the president's driver answers the phone on time. The paradox of modern security is that we fear great conspiracies straight out of Madrid 1981, while our state is most often dismantled by small signatures under flawed tender decisions. „Mieszkańcy od 1 maja nie będą już musieli płacić za parkowanie w niedzielę w centrum miasta.” (Residents will no longer have to pay for parking on Sundays in the city center starting May 1st.) — Aleksander Miszalski 11 mln PLN — Value of the plot in Sulejówek sold without the consent of the AMW Kwatera board
Perspektywy mediów: A leftist perspective might emphasize the role of transparency and social control (the Kraków referendum) as a tool to fight the arrogance of power, while criticizing the militarization and secrecy of the services. A right-wing perspective will focus on the necessity of a strong state and harsh punishment for officials (the AMW case) and the threat from foreign intelligence, treating the referendum as an element of destabilization.