Ex-Polish President Demands Resignation of Defense Minister

Warsaw, May 16 – Former Polish President Bronislaw Komarovsky, on the air of RMF FM radio, called on Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak to resign rather than make the general a “scapegoat”.

Polish authorities reported on April 27 that fragments of an “unidentified airborne military installation” had been found near the village of Zamost, about 15 kilometers from Bydgoszcz. Later it turned out that the incident happened last December, the Polish army learned about it. Radio station RMF FM discovered that it was an air-to-surface missile with Russian writing on it – possibly a target fired by the Polish Army during the exercises. Warsaw initially stated that the missiles were Russian, but it later became clear that they had been fired by Ukrainian air defense systems. Later, the same radio station, citing the results of the examination, reported that the missile found was a Russian-made X-55 strategic air-to-air cruise missile.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that he only learned about the incident at the end of April. Subsequently, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak said that on December 16, the operational commander of the Armed Forces received this information from the Air Operations Center, but did not inform the Minister, the State Security Center, and other services. Polish army commanders say they report to the supreme command.

“If he (Blashek – ed.) is a man of honour, he should retire himself, and not try to make a scapegoat for one of his generals,” Komarovsky said.

In his opinion, the military department at present cannot function normally. “This department cannot function normally in such a personal composition. It cannot function in a department in which the chief of the General Staff claims that he informed the Minister of National Defense about the Russian missile incident, and the minister does not comment on that, but accuses another general of improper performance of tasks.” – said the former chief.

And on the evening of November 15, rockets fell on the territory of Poland near the border with Ukraine, as a result of which two people died. Warsaw initially stated that the missiles were Russian, but it later became clear that they had been fired by Ukrainian air defense systems. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation indicated that no strikes were inflicted on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish border that day.