Tusk versus Nawrocki. “He stubbornly refuses to sign officer promotions”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday that President Karol Nawrocki “stubbornly refuses” to sign applications for young secret service officers for the first officer rank and decorations for heroes of the fight against sabotage. The Prime Minister assessed that this was sabotage aimed at state security.

“The president stubbornly refuses to sign applications for young secret service officers for the first (!) officer rank and decorations for heroes of the fight against foreign sabotage. This is not just an attempt to take over the government's competences. It is sabotage aimed at state security!” – Tusk wrote on X.

The president's spokesman, Rafał Leśkiewicz, announced earlier on Thursday that applications for nominations for future special services officers to the first officer rank had been sent back to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister because the president is waiting for a meeting with the heads of the secret services. He also appealed to the Prime Minister to consent to this meeting.

In turn, the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the Ministry of National Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, announced on Thursday that “until it is done” he will request that President Nawrocki sign 136 nominations for the first officer ranks in the SKW and ABW. – I am once again requesting the president to make a positive decision in the nomination for the first officer ranks. We must not punish young people who want to serve the Polish state because of their political views, or even their reluctance to the government, said the minister.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the applications had not been signed at the beginning of November. He then accused President Nawrocki of blocking the nominations of 136 future officers of the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Internal Security Agency to the first officer rank. As he assessed, this is “a continuation of the president's war against the Polish government.”

The president expects an apology from the heads of the secret services

In response, Nawrocki stated that the Prime Minister “decided that the heads of the secret services are prohibited from meeting the President of the Republic of Poland.” – The president's representative was refused to provide important information regarding state security during the meeting of the College for Secret Services. My 4 meetings with the heads of the services were canceled – they were supposed to discuss key issues for Poland's security; decisions regarding officer nominations were also to be made, he said.

The president also said that he expected the heads of the secret services to apologize for not meeting him and to appear in his office to talk, among other things. on officer promotions. He stated that for the first time after 1989, the heads of the services refused to meet with the democratically elected Polish president.

On Wednesday, the Minister Coordinating Special Services, Tomasz Siemoniak, announced that on Tuesday the Chancellery of the Prime Minister received a letter from the Chancellery of the President sending back an application for nomination of future ABW officers to the first officer rank. The minister added that he understood this as a final negative answer and would consider what to do next.

– I take a very negative view of it, because first the officer nominations were blocked, and then there was no decision on decorations for Independence Day. An unprecedented decision. Punishing officers who have nothing to do with politics or political assessments. After all, this is not a distinction for me or the deputy ministers, but for those who also fight against acts of sabotage, risk their lives and health, stand at night, wait – said Siemoniak, when asked about the case on Thursday in Opole.

In Poland, the first officer rank is awarded by the president at the request of the minister of national defense or, in the case of services subordinate to him, the minister of interior affairs and administration. Traditionally, the conferral of officer ranks – including generals – in the army and other services takes place on the occasion of the most important national holidays, such as National Independence Day on November 11. (PAP)

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