“It cannot be that a soldier is standing on Poland’s border with Belarus, knowing who killed his comrade, and at the same time has a military policeman, a counterintelligence officer, and a special prosecutorial team waiting to pounce on him,” said Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz during the “Army Congress.” “This cannot be allowed! We must change this!” he appealed to the politicians gathered in Stalowa Wola. According to the head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), what is needed are actions, not just criticism of such events.
Cenckiewicz began by quoting a fragment of a speech delivered by President Karol Nawrocki at the United Nations General Assembly:
“State borders have in fact ceased to be inviolable. And international law, until recently regarded as the compass of world order, has begun to be treated more as a suggestion than as a rule. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not only the most serious conflict in Europe since the Second World War, but also a turning point. The existing international order is crumbling before our eyes.” Nawrocki also reminded that decisions taken today will have consequences for decades to come.
Prof. Cenckiewicz then stressed that in recent weeks, Poland’s security environment has posed enormous challenges. “Due to the actions of the Russian Federation and the war we are in, all of this has become a catalyst for the development of the army,” he added.
He emphasized that the task of expanding the Polish Army began in 2015 with the appointment of Antoni Macierewicz as Minister of National Defence, and was continued by his successor Mariusz Błaszczak. He appealed for the political right not to let its achievements from 2015 to 2023 be taken away, when the governments of Beata Szydło and Mateusz Morawiecki transformed the army. “And what we inherited back then was ruin,” he recalled.
“We must remember this especially now, when the majority, if not all, modernization projects in the armed forces are essentially a continuation of what was happening in 2015-2023,”
said the head of the National Security Bureau.
He stressed that one cannot simply “rest” and be satisfied with what has already been achieved, but must creatively develop projects for the future. “The policy of modernizing the army should become a driving force of the Polish economy,” Cenckiewicz underlined.
He also addressed the issue of the safety of soldiers on the Polish-Belarusian border.
“For God’s sake! It cannot be that a soldier is standing on the border between Poland and Belarus. He knows who his enemy is, he knows who killed his comrade, murdered him with a spear and then concealed the killer. And yet, on the other side, he faces a military policeman, perhaps a counterintelligence officer, and a special prosecutorial team waiting to see what he will do, in what way he might overstep the law. This cannot be allowed! We must change this!”
Cenckiewicz declared, adding that one cannot end with mere criticism, but must actively monitor these matters.