Duda row with Macierewicz deepens as president blocks appointment of new generals

President Andrzej Duda political row with Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz continues, as the president refused to appoint new generals at the upcoming Army Day on September 15. The appointments on this day are a military staple, and this is the first instance in modern history when they won’t be held on that day. Duda cited problems with a proposed new command system under government reform plans as his reason for blocking the appointments. The Polish defense ministry presented a new defense concept in May that envisages significantly beefing up its armed forces and overhauling their command system. The president, who is also the commander in chief of the country’s armed forces, and the National Security Bureau, which he oversees have yet to respond to those plans. According to Duda’s chief of staff, Halina Szymańska, there is no conflict between the president and the minister, but added that “first the work on building the new command and control structures needs to be completed and only then personnel decisions will be taken.” A significant number of the Polish army generals has quit since Macierewicz took over the office, many of them cited disagreements with the minister as the reason for leaving. No new appointments have been made to replace them yet.