The Polish government saw a sweeping reshuffle recently. As Prime Minister Beata Szydlo resigned on December 7, Mateusz Morawiecki was appointed to this office. He has decided only now to make changes in the Polish Cabinet of Ministers.
Gazeta Wyborcza has published the new Cabinet lineup. In particular, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now headed by Jacek Czaputowicz, until recently a deputy minister. He replaced Witold Waszczykowski who went on record as making many harsh statements about Ukraine. Mariusz Blaszczak and Joachim Brudzinski became ministers of defense (instead of Antoni Macierewicz) and of the interior (instead of Mariusz Blaszczak), respectively. The ministers of the environment, public health, and finance were also replaced.
The Day requested some Polish and Ukrainian experts to explain what the reshuffle will lead to and what it means for Poland, the EU, and Ukraine.
“THE CURRENT CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT MAINLY FOCUS ON THE DOMESTIC MARKET AND RELATIONS WITH THE EU AND NATO”
Michal KOBOSKO, director, Poland office, US Atlantic Council:
“What has occurred in Warsaw is a really serious and sweeping governmental reshuffle. We did not expect so many changes. Only yesterday we expected three or four misters to be replaced.
“Some important offices, such as foreign and defense ministers, will be held by other people. I think these changes are the most important because, from the international viewpoint, these officials are responsible for foreign policy and national defense. It is really important. Antoni Macierewicz was a very controversial minister of national defense. Many people thought that Mr. Kaczynski would not be strong enough to dismiss Mr. Macierewicz. In all probability, Polish President Andrzej Duda demanded that the defense minister be dismissed because there was a never-ending conflict between the president and Mr. Macierewicz. So it is a very positive signal for President Duda who is commander-in-chief of the Polish armed forces.
“But this reshuffle leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Antoni Macierewicz is a strong personality who holds strong positions inside the ruling PiS [Law and Justice. – Ed.] party. I don’t know what offer was made to Mr. Macierewicz. I think they will offer him something in parliament or some other official position because he may come into a new conflict with Jaroslaw Kaczynski. He was dismissed today, and it is important information for the ministry of national defense and the Polish army, where there are a lot of internal conflicts. Minister Macierewicz fired a lot of generals – a third of general’s positions have been vacant in the Polish army in the past few months. The new defense minister is to fill these vacancies.
“Another major replacement is the minister of foreign affairs. Minister Waszczykowski was in conflict with many other ministers, countries, and especially with the EU. He was very controversial and provocative in his interviews. And although he is an experienced Polish diplomat, he failed to shape his own policy instead of pursuing the foreign policy of Mr. Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
“So I think it is good news that Minister Waszczykowski has left office. We don’t know so far how the new foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz will fare, whether he will be different in his first steps, decisions, and statements because, after all, it is Jaroslaw Kaczynski who makes final foreign-policy decisions.
“As for the Polish-Ukrainian relations, President Duda recently paid a successful visit to Kharkiv and had a good meeting with President Poroshenko. We hope this is a chance to turn over a new leaf. I’d like the new foreign minister Czaputowicz to make a statement that will normalize our relations. I cannot be sure that this will happen. We don’t know yet what kind of foreign policy this new government will pursue and whether it will differ considerably from that of the previous cabinet. So far, I can hear no angry reports that signalize that Poland is going to speak with Ukraine in a new manner and there will be some breakthrough again.
“In its foreign policy, the previous government did not seem to show much interest in Ukraine. Now I think that Prime Minister Morawiecki is aware of how important it is for Poland to maintain good working relations with Kyiv and that he will pay a visit to Kyiv in the near future.
“The current changes in the government mainly focus on the domestic market and Poland’s relations with the EU and NATO. This explains the replacement of the ministers of foreign affairs and the environment – Minister Szyszko lost his office because the EU criticized him openly and harshly. The minister of defense, whom NATO criticized for being problematic, was also dismissed.
“As for a likely change in the Poland-EU relations, the first step will be taken this evening [January 9. – Ed.] – Prime Minister Morawiecki is leaving for Brussels to meet Jean-Claude Juncker and Frans Timmermans in the European Commission. They will be discussing the debates on Article 7 the EC initiated before Christmas. Mr. Morawiecki will be discussing with EU officials whether Poland will obey EU regulations and meet its expectations, observe the rule of law – the things that stirred up biting EU criticism. It will be difficult for Prime Minister Morawiecki to change anything in Brussels. I am sure he will use the cabinet reshuffle to convince our European friends that Poland is doing the needful and making important changes in the government. It is a signal to Brussels that Poland wants to cooperate more closely with European institutions. It is common knowledge in Brussels that, unfortunately, Premier Morawiecki is not the one who makes final decisions. He is not flexible enough, but he is free to deal with any matters, including Poland’s relations with the EU.
“The old government had two years to closely cooperate with European institutions, but this time was wasted. It is important that there have been some changes. At the same time, it is difficult to believe that the new government will radically change its policy in the relations with Brussels. I don’t expect many great changes. I can expect that the tone of discussions will be slightly different. But we cannot expect any major changes until Mr. Kaczynski changes his opinion about the EU.”
“WE CAN EXPECT SOBER AND BALANCED DECISIONS”
Oksana YURYNETS, co-chairperson, Group for Inter-Parliamentary Ties with the Republic of Poland; Member of the Ukrainian Parliament:
“This reshuffle is a very positive thing. Mr. Waszczykowski used to make all kinds of statements and things that were unclear to and unacceptable for Ukraine. The situation is different now, and changes have been made. We can surely forecast that there will be a new positive demand for international relations, particularly in the context of Ukraine and Poland.
“The newly-appointed foreign minister is a career diplomat who is not too much politicized and is taking a pacifist attitude. He carved out his career gradually. It seems to me that now we can expect to see very sound diplomatic steps, sober and balanced decisions – the things that we need today.
“As for expectations, we should take into account that Poland is a parliamentary-presidential republic, where people can be MPs and deputy ministers at the same time. Therefore, it may be easier for our group to pay visits of friendship and hold an assembly. This foreign policy should be pursued in the shape of correct and well-balanced diplomatic steps, which both the Polish and the Ukrainian sides need.
“Of course, we expect to make a fresh positive start. For the Polish-Ukrainian Assembly, scheduled for December 11-12, was canceled because there was a government reshuffle and some MPs were also busy as cabinet members. I hope the group will resume work this year. The group is chaired by the parliament vice-speaker on our part and the Sejm deputy speaker on their part. Incidentally, Mykola Kniazhytskyi, the co-chairman, and I sent an inquiry of our friendship group to Warsaw almost two months ago, and we are still waiting for an answer. Maybe, some direction of strategic communication with Ukraine will be found right now. I am convinced that we will never fall apart, and we need communication, a dialog, today in order to fill the vacuum, which has formed in the past few months, with information. Besides, it is good that the presidents of Poland and Ukraine made a constructive visit to Kharkiv. They drew up a certain road map, and parliament and the Cabinet should now set such new and extremely important directions of work as cooperation within the limits of Euro-regions and cross-border cooperation. Poland is a strategic EU country, in fact our gate to Europe, so there are very many things to do. For this reason, changes in other ministries are equally crucial, for this will help find out what is to be done if a proper international policy is pursued. There is very much work to do, and the guidelines for the next year were in fact drawn up at the end of the last one.”
