An expert has said that the political “tug of war” between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda, weakens Poland’s diplomatic efforts, referring to the contentions over the appointment of diplomats and the commission on Russian influence in domestic affairs.
Marcin Zaborowski, policy director at Globsec, a global think tank on security, told TVP World that “the power and significance of Polish diplomacy will be weakened” by the lack of cooperation between Tusk and Duda, who come from rival parties, highlighting more specifically the “objections from the president” over government nominations of Polish diplomats abroad.
“It looks like Poland will have a whole streak of ambassadors not recognized by the president or the heads of missions in the capitals such as Washington. The former defense minister, Bogdan Klich, will be the acting ambassador, but without the confirmation from the president.”
In June this year, Duda, from the right wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, vowed that he will not sign off on the government’s appointment of Klich to become US ambassador as long as he remains in office.
He added that Klich served as defense minister when the tragic 2010 Smolensk plane crash happened, which killed then-president Lech Kaczyński and 95 others, and therefore he suggested Klich is unfit for the job.
Recently, Tusk’s government nominated Piotr Serafin (Poland’s Permanent Representative to the EU) as a candidate for the EU executive's budget and administration commissioner, a decision that was approved shortly afterwards by Duda.
According to Zaborowski, this appointment was “not politically consequential” so it didn’t cause much contention between the two leaders. He said that Serafin is a “career diplomat… not a politician,” despite being considered Tusk’s trusted aide.
Turning to the new commission investigating Russian influence in domestic affairs, which was set up by Tusk’s government, Zaborowski is confident that it will be completely independent of political influence, as opposed to the old commission created by the PiS party.
“What the current government is proposing is to have a commission which would be run by nonpolitical appointees and which would really truly investigate the cases of a limited to treasonous, rather than trying to block political opponents from being active in politics,” he said.
He considered the public discussion about the commission as “politically complicated” and “poisoned” because “the details [of the commission] have escaped public opinion.”
The old commission was first launched in 2023 by the then-ruling PiS party and covered the years 2007-2022, which included the current prime minister, Donald Tusk’s previous term in office as head of the government.
The commission had the power to bar politicians from public office if they were found to have been operating under Russian influence.
On August 30, 2023, the parliament nominated candidates for the commission, all of whom were selected by PiS.
This move sparked criticism from the then opposition parties, as well as the EU and the U.S., who believed the commission could be used as a political tool to exclude Tusk from the parliamentary elections later that year.
On November 29, Tusk’s new ruling coalition dismissed all members of the commission, and later, in May this year, he decided to set up a new commission to look into potential Russian and Belarusian influence on Polish political circles in 2004-2024.
“It looks like Poland will have a whole streak of ambassadors not recognized by the president or the heads of missions in the capitals such as Washington. The former defense minister, Bogdan Klich, will be the acting ambassador, but without the confirmation from the president.”
In June this year, Duda, from the right wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, vowed that he will not sign off on the government’s appointment of Klich to become US ambassador as long as he remains in office.
He added that Klich served as defense minister when the tragic 2010 Smolensk plane crash happened, which killed then-president Lech Kaczyński and 95 others, and therefore he suggested Klich is unfit for the job.
Recently, Tusk’s government nominated Piotr Serafin (Poland’s Permanent Representative to the EU) as a candidate for the EU executive's budget and administration commissioner, a decision that was approved shortly afterwards by Duda.
According to Zaborowski, this appointment was “not politically consequential” so it didn’t cause much contention between the two leaders. He said that Serafin is a “career diplomat… not a politician,” despite being considered Tusk’s trusted aide.
Turning to the new commission investigating Russian influence in domestic affairs, which was set up by Tusk’s government, Zaborowski is confident that it will be completely independent of political influence, as opposed to the old commission created by the PiS party.
“What the current government is proposing is to have a commission which would be run by nonpolitical appointees and which would really truly investigate the cases of a limited to treasonous, rather than trying to block political opponents from being active in politics,” he said.
He considered the public discussion about the commission as “politically complicated” and “poisoned” because “the details [of the commission] have escaped public opinion.”
The old commission was first launched in 2023 by the then-ruling PiS party and covered the years 2007-2022, which included the current prime minister, Donald Tusk’s previous term in office as head of the government.
The commission had the power to bar politicians from public office if they were found to have been operating under Russian influence.
On August 30, 2023, the parliament nominated candidates for the commission, all of whom were selected by PiS.
This move sparked criticism from the then opposition parties, as well as the EU and the U.S., who believed the commission could be used as a political tool to exclude Tusk from the parliamentary elections later that year.
On November 29, Tusk’s new ruling coalition dismissed all members of the commission, and later, in May this year, he decided to set up a new commission to look into potential Russian and Belarusian influence on Polish political circles in 2004-2024.
Source: TVP World
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