Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is accusing the leader of the opposition, former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, of attempting to destabilize Poland’s armed forces by spreading false information about an alleged officers’ mutiny against the government.
The accusations come after chief of staff, General Romuald Andrzejczak, and the operational commander of the armed forces, General Tomasz Piotrowski, resigned on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Polish President Andrzej Duda replaced them with General Wiesław Kukuła and General Maciej Klisza later on the same day.
Opposition leader Donald Tusk has claimed that 10 more senior officers have tendered their resignations; however, this was denied by the military.
Morawiecki in a statement on Wednesday, Oct. 11, attacked Tusk, writing: “Yesterday, we witnessed Donald Tusk deciding to destabilize Poland’s army by taking advantage of two resignations to foment rebellion among Polish officers.”
He also said that the government would not “allow for games to be played with national security.”
He added that this was happening at a time of international crisis and that he was left “speechless at the behavior of the opposition leader,” especially given the ongoing involvement of Polish troops in the evacuation of civilians from Israel.
Poland holds its parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, with the ruling PiS seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term of majority government. National security has been one of the major issues in the campaign, with the ruling party accentuating it has ramped up defense spending and secured Poland’s borders.
