The meeting between President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is scheduled for January 26 at 2 p.m., state news agency PAP reported.
The talks come amid tense cohabitation between the centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the conservative president, an ally of the right-wing opposition.
Foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór welcomed the invitation from the presidential palace, saying it was positive that, "after months of declarations," the meeting would finally take place.
"We accept it with full certainty and treat it as an invitation to a substantive discussion," Wewiór said.
The president’s foreign policy adviser, Marcin Przydacz, said many Polish diplomatic missions abroad are currently headed by chargés d’affaires rather than ambassadors, calling the situation "not optimal."
Przydacz blamed the impasse on Sikorski’s decision in 2024 to recall more than 50 ambassadors without what he described as proper justification.
He said Nawrocki was "ready for talks" and expected "concrete steps" from the foreign minister.
Wewiór countered that Sikorski had already submitted a proposal to resolve the dispute after a previous meeting with the president and that it had gone unanswered for more than three months.
He added that the January 26 talks would be easier if the president, "in line with the law," began signing ambassadorial nominations that have been awaiting approval for more than five months.
The standoff dates back to March 2024, when Sikorski recalled dozens of ambassadors and rejected several nominees put forward by his predecessor, the PAP news agency reported.
Then-President Andrzej Duda insisted that ambassadors cannot be appointed or recalled without the president’s signature.
Since then, the foreign ministry has staffed affected posts with chargés d’affaires. Nawrocki has been particularly opposed to the nominations of Bogdan Klich as chief of mission in Washington and Ryszard Schnepf as chargé d’affaires in Italy, PAP reported.
(pm/gs)
Source PAP