Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the president had delayed signing officer nominations for security service personnel because he wanted political conflict, and in doing so harmed Poland’s military and intelligence services.
The dispute is part of wider tensions between Nawrocki and the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, with security appointments among a growing list of politically contested presidential decisions.
Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz announced on Wednesday that Nawrocki had signed 96 nominations to the first officer rank for officers of the Internal Security Agency (ABW), the country’s domestic intelligence and security service.
Leśkiewicz also said the president had granted 109 state decorations to officers of the Foreign Intelligence Agency and the Military Intelligence Service.
Speaking to reporters in the western city of Poznań at a cybersecurity conference, Gawkowski said the president had delayed the officer promotions for too long.
“Good that he signed them, bad that he waited so long,” Gawkowski said. He added that Nawrocki had been “systemically undermining Polish security” by holding back promotions for officers and soldiers.
Gawkowski said the delay could be explained only by politics. “The president wanted to wait because he cared about political conflict,” he said. “But he harmed the Polish military and Polish services.”
The decision appears to end a dispute that had lasted for more than six months over officer nominations for ABW personnel and, earlier, for officers of the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW).
During that period, Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister coordinating Poland’s intelligence services, repeatedly urged the president to approve the nominations, saying the requests had been submitted twice.
Part of the backlog was cleared on March 20, when Nawrocki approved the appointment to first officer rank of 78 soldiers and officers of the Military Counterintelligence Service at the request of Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
That move followed a January meeting between the president, the defense minister, Siemoniak and the heads of Poland’s main intelligence and counterintelligence agencies.
The broader row began in early November, when Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the president had blocked first officer nominations for 136 future officers of the Internal Security Agency and the Military Counterintelligence Service.
After Wednesday’s announcement from the president’s office, Siemoniak welcomed the decision, while making clear that he believed it had come too late.
He said ABW officers had been waiting since November for the president’s decision and added that officer promotions should never again become part of political games.
He also said more applications would be sent to the president for approval.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP