The news has caused a political upheaval in the run-up to the parliamentary elections on Sunday, October 15. The Chief of General Staff General Rajmund sen and the Head of the Operational Command General Tomasz Piotrowski tendered their resignations to President Andrzej Duda on Monday. Neither Duda, who is head of the armed forces, nor Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak were informed of this decision in advance. Presented with a fait accompli, they learned of the news via the press.
Unprecedented in the Polish army's history, the event undoubtedly marks the most serious crisis the institution has ever experienced, in this country neighboring Ukraine and in a particularly tense international context. While no official reason has been given for the departures, it's hard not to see them as an eminently political gesture of protest, as senior officers have been complaining of growing malaise and a crisis of confidence within the army since the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in autumn 2015.
The news of the resignation of the two generals has sent a wave of panic through the PiS campaign team. With just a few days to go to the polls, it upsets the main theme on which the populist party is campaigning, "a secure Poland." It also calls into question the myth of the omnipotence of the Polish army, painstakingly forged in recent years. Attempting to put out the fire, Andrzej Duda announced two new appointments to the General Staff on Tuesday.
Tensions between Blaszczak and these senior military figures had been obvious for some time and had increased considerably in recent months. In May, the minister publicly accused General Piotrowski of negligence after a Russian CH-55 missile was found by a walker in a forest near the town of Bydgoszcz, in the north-east of the country. The missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, had crossed Polish airspace on December 16, 2022, and had clearly not been searched for. The minister stated that the general had not informed him of the accident.
The accusation caused consternation within the army. All the more so as media investigations quickly showed the ministry of defense's responsibility. Informed of the incident, Blaszczak apparently decided to keep public opinion out of the matter so as not to create a scandal surrounding the quality of Polish air defense. The Minister had asked for Piotrowski's resignation, but it was refused by Duda.
Similarly, the two resigning generals did not appreciate being sidelined from operations to reinforce the military presence on the Polish-Belarusian border this summer, which fell within their prerogatives. This happened after a Belarusian helicopter crossed Polish airspace and troop movements by the Wagner group were reported.
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