“President gives ambassadorial nominations, so courtesy would dictate that the candidacy should be agreed upon in such a way that it is acceptable,” said President Andrzej Duda on TVN24. The President also addressed the issue of security, stating that it should be “above political divisions.”
No Agreements Were Made
The issue concerns the nomination of Bogdan Klich as ambassador to the USA and Piotr Łukasiewicz as ambassador to Ukraine.
“The candidacies should have been agreed upon and established with me, but they were not. This is a presidential prerogative. From the very beginning, I said that I believe Senator Klich is not a suitable candidate for the post, especially at this moment, particularly considering what he has recently said about President Donald Trump. In my opinion, he is not the right candidate,” the President stated.
Andrzej Duda reminded that it is the President who grants ambassadorial nominations. “This is the President’s decision, so courtesy alone, not to mention the custom that has been in place in Poland for thirty years, would dictate that the candidacy should be agreed upon in such a way that it is acceptable.”
Actions Taken Deliberately
In the President’s opinion, the lack of agreements and discussions is “done deliberately to generate problems in relations. This is a policy that is being implemented by Donald Tusk’s government with premeditation,” he emphasized. – “If they want, when I finish my presidential mission, for Mr. Klich to be the ambassador to the United States, then perhaps the President who comes after me will sign this candidacy for them. The question is whether they will be able to conduct policy in the White House with his help. I fear it will be difficult,” said the President.
Bogdan Klich is considered a person who failed in the role of Minister of Defense. It was during his tenure that the Smolensk disaster occurred, resulting in the deaths of 97 people, including President Lech Kaczyński and his wife. Klich was also criticized for a 2022 post on platform X, in which he called Trump an “unbalanced and democracy-disrespecting politician.” In November 2024, Klich resigned from his senatorial mandate and became a chargé d’affaires, the head of the Polish embassy in Washington. He did not receive the President’s nomination.
The conflict between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President over ambassadors began in March 2024, when Minister Sikorski decided that over 50 ambassadors would end their missions, and several candidacies submitted for approval by the previous leadership of the ministry would be withdrawn.
Following the Ministry’s decision, Andrzej Duda announced that “no Polish ambassador can be appointed or dismissed without the President’s signature.” Due to the lack of agreement with the Ministry, the President refused to nominate successors for the recalled ambassadors.