Poland plans changes to armed forces command system
During President Andrzej Duda's meeting with the Ministry of Defence's top officials, changes to the command system of the armed forces were declared, the ministry and National Security Bureau (BBN) said in a joint press statement.
"During the discussion on the Polish armed forces' role, especially in the context of the President of the Republic of Poland overseeing the military, urgent changes to the command and control system were declared," the statement read.
The participants in the meeting also determined what actions need to be taken in the near future to improve the personnel policy in the Polish Army.
They have also decided to begin work on the new National Security Strategy of the Republic of Poland, to be implemented in co-operation between the president and the government.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, deputy defence ministers Sebastian Chwalek, Tomasz Zdzikot, Marek Lapinski and Tomasz Szatkowski, the BBN's director Pawel Soloch and his deputy Dariusz Gwizdala.
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.
Source: PAP