Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced on Thursday, after a meeting with President Karol Nawrocki, that applications regarding officer nominations in the services will again be submitted to the Chancellery of the President. We can be more optimistic about the president's support in this matter, he added.
On Thursday, the president met with head of the Ministry of National Defenseas well as with the minister coordinator of special services Tomasz Siemoniak and heads of the Internal Security Agency, the Foreign Intelligence Agency, the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Military Intelligence Service.
During the press conference after the nearly three-hour meeting, Kosiniak-Kamysz summed up that it was long, substantive and fruitful. He assured that the government and services have the best possible will to fully inform the president. – This meeting allowed us to present important elements regarding the development of special services in Poland, both civilian and military – added the Deputy Prime Minister.
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As announced, talks with the president also concerned the issue of officer nominations for ABW and SKW officers. President Nawrocki has not signed these nominations since the beginning of November, justifying this by not providing him with important information regarding state security and by canceling his meetings with the heads of services by the government leadership.
Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that nomination applications will be sent again to the Chancellery of the President. – I think that we can now be optimistic about the president's willingness to accept these proposals. Of course, the final decision regarding each person will be made by the president, he emphasized.
According to the head of the Ministry of National Defense, the president will “mostly” agree to the submitted requests.
Tomasz Siemoniak expressed hope that the meeting would close the “unnecessary front” of the political dispute. He emphasized that it was an opportunity to present the president with extensive information on the activities of the secret services, and that the threats and priorities of each service were reviewed. As he reported, the heads of the secret services also answered questions from the president and his associates.
The minister admitted that there were differences of opinion during the conversation. “The exchange was polite, but tough in some respects,” he noted. He informed that international cooperation of Polish secret services was also discussed and emphasized that Poland attaches particular importance to cooperation with American secret services.
Siemoniak also assured that the current president and his officials receive information from the secret services to the same extent and with the same frequency as previous presidents. – If the Chancellery of the President or the president himself expects to receive materials from the services in a different arrangement, on different topics, we are absolutely open – he added.
According to the head of the Ministry of National Defense, the Thursday meetings will be held periodically and at least once every six months, and more often if necessary.
Kosiniak-Kamysz reminded that the government Committee for National Security holds weekly meetings with the participation of the president's representatives, where the heads of all services are also present. The Deputy Prime Minister assured that during these meetings, the president's associates will receive full information about the state of the country.
Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz informed at a conference at the Presidential Palace that Karol Nawrocki expressed concern at the meeting about the possibility of illegal financing of Rafał Trzaskowski's election campaign in 2025. He added that during the meeting, the president brought this to the attention of representatives of the secret services also in the context of next year's elections.
When asked about this matter, Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized that “this is an issue not only of the 2025 elections, but also of the 2020 elections”, the date of which – in his opinion – was set in a manner inconsistent with the constitution. As he said, “if there are any doubts about the electoral process, if there are suspicions of illegal financing, both the services and the prosecutor's office, which conducts specific proceedings, are obliged to act on this matter.”
Siemoniak assured that the prosecutor's office is dealing with the issue of possible illegal financing of the campaign, just like “all other matters”, such as the leak of medical data of the head of the National Security Bureau, Sławomir Cenckiewicz. This is about an article published in December by “Gazeta Wyborcza” regarding the drugs that the current head of the National Security Bureau was supposed to be taking. According to the newspaper, failure to include information about their receipt in the security survey was the reason for the SKW to withdraw Cenckiewicz's security clearance and access to classified information. (PAP)
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