“Perhaps it is worth asking whether, in the matter of who should become the UN High Representative for Refugees, there have been any diplomatic talks, some diplomatic bargaining between Poland and Germany? Did something like this appear, that ‘we could give up this SPD candidate and support some candidate from Poland, but give us a man, a specific man – Volodymyr Z.’?” asked today on TV Republika Michał Rachoń, the program director of the station.
The Marshal of the Sejm, leader of the Polska 2050 Party, Szymon Hołownia, announced that on Friday he submitted an application in the public recruitment process announced by the UN Secretary-General for the position of UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “The chances as of today are not great. However, a week ago, there were none at all,” he added.
Today, this topic was raised on TV Republika by Michał Rachoń.
He emphasized that the candidate for UN High Commissioner for Refugees is to be nominated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the candidacy will be voted on by the UN General Assembly.
“The nomination requires broad support. It is much more complicated than internal backing in Poland. There is no doubt that Tusk wants Hołownia to hold some important position, as long as it is not the position of Marshal of the Sejm. An attempt to export or transfer him to another post is certainly in the interest of the government and Donald Tusk, for whom Szymon Hołownia is an obstacle in his arrangements. Also on the side of the Presidential Palace or among the conservative part of Polish voters, there is a certain degree of sympathy,” said Rachoń.
A German candidate for the UN post
He added that there is a significant chance that a candidate from Europe will take the position of High Commissioner for Refugees, but Hołownia is not the only candidate. Already in 2024, the candidacy of Niels Annen, a German politician from the SPD, was officially presented for this post.
Michał Rachoń pointed out that although Annen was publicly announced as a candidate, a change of power has since taken place in Germany, and Annen now represents the opposition to the CDU.
A Ukrainian arrested in Poland in a German investigation
On the other hand, the program director of TV Republika drew attention to another matter – the temporary detention of Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian citizen residing in Poland, suspected of participating in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in an investigation led by the Russian side. Not long ago, Rzeczpospolita indicated that the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, was of the opinion that Z. deserved “asylum and medals,” and just a few days later the Ukrainian was arrested near Pruszków. German officers took part in the arrest.
“Today, when we read another piece in Rzeczpospolita on the matter, by Izabela Kacprzak and Grażyna Zawadka, we read that ‘the arrest of Z. shows that Poland has changed its attitude toward the case (perhaps as a result of German diplomatic pressure).’ Perhaps it is worth asking whether, in the matter of who should become the UN High Representative for Refugees, there have been any diplomatic talks, some diplomatic bargaining between Poland and Germany? Did something like this appear, that ‘we could give up this SPD candidate and support some candidate from Poland, but give us a man, a specific man – Volodymyr Z.’? We will be asking these questions. One thing is certain – extremely interesting things are happening here, and for Poland’s security – extremely dangerous,” added Michał Rachoń.