The President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, has entrusted Brig. Gen. (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski with leading the National Security Bureau – the BBN announced on Friday. The change follows the resignation of Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz.
On Thursday, Sławomir Cenckiewicz announced his resignation as head of the National Security Bureau. At the same time, he declared his intention to support Przemysław Czarnek in efforts to bring about a change of government in Poland. The President’s spokesperson, Rafał Leśkiewicz, stated the same day that Brig. Gen. (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski would take over the management of the BBN. An official statement on the matter was released on Friday.
“By a decision dated April 23, 2026, the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, dismissed Dr. habil. Sławomir Cenckiewicz from the position of Secretary of State at the National Security Bureau – Head of the National Security Bureau. At the same time, by a decision dated April 23, 2026, the President entrusted Brig. Gen. (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski with leading the National Security Bureau in the rank of Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau, until a Head of the National Security Bureau is appointed,” the BBN said in a statement.
When will the new BBN head be appointed?
In a Friday interview on TOK FM, spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz said that a new head of the BBN would be announced in a few weeks. “It will not be Gen. Kowalski,” he noted.
Leśkiewicz also indicated that Cenckiewicz will continue to head the Council for Security and Defense, an advisory body to the President.
Asked about Cenckiewicz’s cooperation with Przemysław Czarnek, the Law and Justice (PiS) candidate for prime minister, Leśkiewicz replied that what the former BBN head does outside of leading the Council is his private matter.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski
The BBN statement included an extensive biography of Gen. Kowalski:
Brigadier General (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski is an intelligence officer, educator, and publicist. Since August 7, 2025, he has served as Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau. In 2023, he was appointed by the Sejm to the State Commission for Investigating Russian Influence on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland between 2007 and 2022. Earlier, he served as Head of the Military Intelligence Service from 2015 to 2020.
In 2006, he participated in the creation of a new military counterintelligence service formed after the dissolution of the Military Information Services. In 2007, he acted as Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service. Since 1994, he has served in counterintelligence within the Office for State Protection and the Internal Security Agency. He completed numerous specialist courses in counterintelligence and repeatedly trained new officers. He also initiated and supervised work on modern technical solutions within the intelligence services. A proponent of strong firearms training for officers, he organized and participated in shooting competitions and authored various training materials.
He is a graduate of the Faculty of Education at the University of Warsaw, where he obtained a master’s degree through an individualized course of study. As part of his approved academic program, he also attended classes at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. He has a particular interest in the role of dialogue in education, a topic he also explored during postgraduate studies completed in 2006 at the Higher School of the Alliance of Families in Warsaw. For several years, he lectured in part-time studies.
In 1986, he graduated from a technical secondary school at the Electronic Schools Complex on Gen. Zajączka Street in Warsaw, specializing in computing machinery.
After completing his studies, he co-founded an experimental Educational and Care Center in Konstancin-Jeziorna. He worked for many years as an educator and teacher with youth at risk of delinquency. Between 2011 and 2015, he served as a teacher at the Alliance of Families Junior High School in Warsaw and co-organized over twenty summer and winter camps for young people.
He is the author of dozens of articles on state security and intelligence services, frequently published in outlets such as Gazeta Polska, Gazeta Polska Codziennie, Nasz Dziennik, and Gość Niedzielny. He has also written four books on intelligence and counterintelligence: Rosyjski Sztylet (2013), Kontra (2015), Założycielska klęska GRU (2022), and Zabity za prawdę (2024), the latter concerning PRL intelligence operations against Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki, who was poisoned in 1987 in West Germany.
Since 1984, he has been a member of the Light-Life Movement and is currently active in the Domestic Church. He is also a member of the Crusade for the Liberation of Man. He has been decorated, among others, with the Gold Cross of Merit (2007).
On August 7, 2025, President Karol Nawrocki appointed Brig. Gen. (ret.) Andrzej Kowalski as Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau, and on April 23, 2026, entrusted him with leading the Bureau.