No decision yet regarding to nominations of new generals - Security Bureau head - News - National Security Bureau

04.11.2017

No decision yet regarding to nominations of new generals - Security Bureau head

President Andrzej Duda has not yet decided whether there will be nominations for new generals on November 11, Poland's National Security Bureau (BBN) head announced on Saturday, stressing that "working out rational solutions" was more important than the date.

November 11 is Poland's Independence Day, observed to mark the anniversary of the country regaining independence on November 11, 1918, after 123 years of partitions (see: NOTE 1).

In early October, the National Security Bureau (BBN) announced that the president had received 14 motions from the Defence Ministry for nominations to the position of general.

"President Duda has not yet decided whether there will be nominations of new generals on November 11. Working out rational solutions is more important than the date", BBN head Pawel Soloch told a Polish public radio broadcaster Saturday.

The BBN chief underlined that the president made a connection beween the nominations and "receiving full information from the defence minister regarding personnel issues and systemic solutions". He added that some data had already been presented to the head of state but the Presidential Palace and the Defence Ministry were still in correspondence over the issue.

According to Soloch, the nomination of new generals will be possible only after the president has received full answers. He pointed out that promotions to the rank of general had been made on November 11 only once, in 2010.

 

 

NOTE 1: The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (see: NOTE 2) towards the end of the 18th century which ended the existence of sovereign Poland for 123 years. The partitioning powers were the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which progressively divided the country among themselves.

The First Partition of Poland took place on August 5, 1772. Two decades later Russia and Prussia re-entered the Commonwealth, which led to the Second Partition on January 23, 1793 (Austria did not participate). The Third Partition was decided on October 24, 1795 as a reaction to the unsuccessful Polish Kosciuszko Uprising) in the previous year. With this partition the Commonwealth disappeared from the map for 123 years.

In 2018, Poland will majestically mark throughout the world the 100th anniversary of regaining independence, topped by the "Niepodlegla 2018" programme to be launched this year by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and to span until 2019. The Ministry of Culture-funded Adam Mickiewicz Institute is to co-ordinate the programme abroad.

NOTE 2: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a 16th-18th Century Polish-Lithuanian state composed of the Crown - Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and considered a precursor to modern democratic systems such as a federation or constitutional monarchy. The Commonwealth was a dual state ruled by one monarch, who was simultaneously King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

The Commonwealth was one of the biggest countries in 16th/17th-century Europe, at its peak spanning about 1.2 million km2 and with a multi-ethnic population of about 11 million. It was formally established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569.

The 1772 partition of Poland led to two further partitions, in 1793 and 1795, ending the existence of a sovereign Poland for 123 years. Nevertheless, the nation itself did not cease to exist, for over a century connecting the East with the West culturally, technologically and tradewise. Partitioned Poland also remained a robust base to anti-invader conspiracy movements and freedom fight bouts with four insurrections including the aforementioned 1794 Kosciuszko Uprising, the November Uprising (1830), the Krakow Uprising (1946) and the January Uprising (1863).

Source: PAP, own information