Chief of staff natural pick for supreme command - National Security head
The chief of military staff is a central function both in peacetime and during war, hence he is a natural candidate for supreme commander of the armed forces, National Security Bureau (BBN) head Pawel Soloch told PAP Friday.
Earlier on Friday President Andrzej Duda designated Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Leszek Surawski will serve as Poland's supreme military commander during war. Surawski will replace General Marek Tomaszycki, who left the army at the end of April.
Paweł Soloch said Surawski's nomination combined military leadership during warfare with the function of chief of staff during peacetime, which was an improvement on the previous command system, in which the army had a general and an operational commander and the latter was designated for supreme armed forces commander.
Paweł Soloch said that the President wanted the chief of staff and not the operational commander to be the supreme military commander.
"We want the chief of staff to play a central role in the command structure both in peacetime and during war, so it's logical that (the chief of staff) should be the candidate for supreme commander", Paweł Soloch said.
Source: PAP