President to name new generals on March 1 - National Security Bureau
President Andrzej Duda will hand out new Polish army general nominations on March 1, having accepted the candidates submitted by the defence minister, the National Security Bureau (BBN) announced on Wednesday.
"According to President Andrzej Duda's decision, taken upon the motion of Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, promotions to the ranks of general and admiral in the Polish Armed Forces will be handed out on March 1," the BBN said in a press statement.
The BBN underlined that the president, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, following consultations between the Defence Ministry and BBN, has accepted the candidates presented by the defence minister. The names of the promoted officers will be announced to the public after the formal appointment procedure.
Blaszczak said on Wednesday he had submitted to President Duda a motion regarding new promotions to the rank of general, but the dates of the appointments were to be set by the president. The defence minister admitted, however, he discussed with the president the possibility that the generals' nominations will be handed out on March 1, which is a national day of remembrance for Doomed Soldiers, Poland's defiant post-World War II anti-communist resistance fighters.
Minister Blaszczak also stressed that the relations between the Defence Ministry and the president have changed and that the Defence Ministry remains in constant contact with the presidential National Security Bureau (BBN).
"First of all, the (president's - PAP) approach has changed, there is an understanding," Blaszczak pointed out. "I believe we should act in a way which allows the chief of the armed forces to consult such matters, because the Polish president is constitutionally responsible for these matters (general nominations - PAP), the defence minister noted.
President Duda appointed Blaszczak as the new minister of defence on January 9 after recalling Antoni Macierewicz from the post.
The president and the former defence minister were in dispute over the Polish army's command system. Among other things, they disagreed as to the command structure, the BBN (a body subordinate to the president) suggesting a single command over all branches of the forces and the minister opting for separate commands over land, air and naval units, to be overseen by a Training and Command Inspectorate. The failure to agree on the future military command structure and auditing procedures was the reason for the postponement of new generals' nominations on August 15 and November 11, 2017.
Source: PAP