Generals quit in Poland just days before hard-fought elections

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Just days before Poland’s fiercely contested general elections, on Tuesday the resignation of two top Polish generals was confirmed, reportedly due to differences with the defense minister, local media reported.

Chief of General Staff Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak and operational commander Gen. Tomasz Piotrowski stepped down on Monday, Jacek Goryszewski, press spokesman of the Operational Command, confirmed in Warsaw.

According to Rzeczpospolita daily, the resignations come as the result of a long-running conflict between senior figures in the army and Mariusz Blaszczak, the defense minister.

In May, Blaszczak publicly accused the army’s Operational Commander of negligence. He said General Piotrowski had not informed him about an incident that took place last December when a Russian missile violated Polish airspace. Blaszczak complained that the search operation was not done properly.

He then suggested that Piotrowski should be dismissed, but President Andrzej Duda, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, disagreed.

Rzeczpospolita reported that the role of the Operational Command was recently marginalized and Blaszczak was supposed to directly issue orders to the Armed Forces General Command.

The generals' decision was also meant as a protest against the use of the army as political fodder in the election campaign of the ruling Law and Justice party, the newspaper said.

"This is a clear signal that, according to the military, the PiS does not guarantee Poland's security," commented opposition politician Roman Giertych.

"The departure of the chief of the General Staff and the operational commander is the final proof of the gigantic crisis in the Polish army which the PiS has caused. This Sunday, we must remove from power the government that threatens the safety of Polish women and men," wrote Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), a part of the Third Way grouping that is seeking to unseat the ruling party in elections set for Sunday.