2024-05-23 12:10 update: 2024-05-25, 13:04
Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
The Polish government's plans to change the county’s representative to NATO "is a blow to our interests and compromises our security," the president's office has said.
On Thursday, the foreign affairs committee in the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, gave its positive opinion on the candidacy of Jacek Najder as Poland's next ambassador to NATO.
Najder is to take up the post for the second time, having already been Poland's permanent representative between 2011 and 2016. He is now to replace Tomasz Szatkowski - an ally of the socially-conservative opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS).
Wojciech Kolarski, President Andrzej Duda’s aide, voiced Duda’s opposition to this move.
"Replacing an ambassador today does not serve our interests," he said. "An exchange at a time like this is simply disadvantageous for us, dangerous, it is also a signal that our allies may not understand.
He added that Duda needs close cooperation with the ambassador to NATO as it is the president, who represents the country at NATO summits.
"This is why it is important to have an ambassador who is appointed with the approval of the president," he said.
Spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry, Pawel Wronski, said that it would be difficult to find a better prepared person for the post, Najder's experience and knowledge mean that the process of preparing for the NATO summit in July can only be improved.
Wronski told PAP that the president had received all the documents in the case and information about Najder's candidacy from the ministry, but the president has not responded.
Wronski asserted that the ministry "does not want to particularly publicise the issue, nor does it want to make it a political problem," but rather does what it has to do.
The next NATO summit will take place in Washington from July 9 to 11. (PAP)
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