Polish generals named to replace top military commanders who resigned in spat with defense minister
WARSAW, Poland — Poland‘s president appointed two senior officers Tuesday to top military positions after two other generals resigned over an apparent spat with the defense minister just days before the country holds a general election.
President Andrzej Duda appointed Gen. Wieslaw Kukula as the head of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces and Gen. Maciej Klisz as the operational commander of the armed forces. Earlier today, Duda approved the resignations of Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak and Gen. Tomasz Piotrowski from their respective positions.
The current conservative government’s handling of Poland’s military during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has raised concerns, following the recent resignations.
During the appointment ceremony, Duda acknowledged that the event was occurring under extraordinary circumstances caused by the neighboring war. He emphasized the importance of minimizing any disturbances to the command of the military forces.
Jacek Siewiera, the leader of the National Security Bureau, announced that Andrzejczak and Piotrowski handed in their resignations on Monday.
The Polish media had covered the increasing tensions between the duo and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
Blaszczak had publicly criticized Piotrowski over the army’s reaction to a stray Russian missile that crashed in a Polish forest in December. No one was hurt, but the defense minister alleged that Piotrowski hadn’t informed him of the incident at the time and that the army had failed to discover the missile. A civilian later found it by chance.
According to various media reports, including the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, the two generals expressed their opposition to the involvement of the armed forces in the government’s election campaign activities.
In the upcoming election on Sunday, voters will determine whether the Law and Justice party, which is conservative and skeptical of the European Union, should continue to govern Poland for an unprecedented third term, or if the pro-European opposition should assume control.
Certain political analysts proposed that the commanders who resigned strategically synchronized their resignations with the election.
“I cannot reword”
The two commanders did not provide an immediate comment.
Based on news coverage in Poland, it has been reported that the defense minister recently excluded Piotrowski from being informed about important decisions regarding increasing border defenses with Belarus or the evacuation of Polish citizens from Israel following the Hamas attack over the weekend.
According to the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, the resignations were ultimately caused by Blaszczak appointing Kukula, who is now the new chief of the General Staff, to oversee the evacuations from Israel.
Donald Tusk, the leader of the opposition, stated that he possessed information suggesting that an additional 10 generals were intending to step down. However, the military command refuted this assertion.
Poland is a close NATO ally of the U.S. and has bought billions of dollars worth of military equipment from Washington, South Korea and other countries.
