Lieut Gen Jaroslaw Gromadzinski, the Polish head of Eurocorps, a multinational military group under the jurisdiction of Nato-EU based in France, has been relieved from his post and summoned back to Warsaw to undergo an investigation by counter-intelligence. The Polish Defence Ministry stated that the inquiry aimed to scrutinise Lt Gen Gromadzinski’s “personal security clearance” and to obtain additional data concerning him. The ministry informed ally countries before this action, which apparently caused no significant worry.
Despite acknowledging the serious nature of the situation, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Polish defence minister, expressed that there was no disquiet between Poland and its allies while speaking to TVN24, a Polish news channel, on Thursday. He emphasised that the ongoing investigation was still only for the purpose of elucidation, refraining from providing further details.
The Polish defence ministry named Lieut Gen Piotr Blazeusz as the successor to Gromadzinski in leading the Eurocorps and reassured that all procedures had been followed correctly. However, according to an individual familiar with the situation, the decision to dismiss Lieut Gen Gromadzinski came as a shocking news to top officials at Eurocorps. Without giving more details on the “sensitive issue” being probed, Warsaw left stakeholders in suspense.
The Polish defence ministry issued a list of regulations and potential grounds for initiating such a counter-intelligence probe, one of which involves “the protection of classified information”. Dismissing any wrongdoing, Lieut Gen Gromadzinski voiced confidence that the investigation by the military counter-intelligence service will eventually prove his innocence.
Previously, Lieut Gen Gromadzinski was leading the Polish troops in Iraq and Syria before being appointed as the commander of Eurocorps. Furthermore, his role involved managing the training of Ukrainian soldiers based in Germany. He took charge of Eurocorps, headquartered in Strasbourg in June, originally founded in 1992 as a Franco-German military group, now including forces from other countries including Poland. Gromadzinski assured that in his 34-year military tenure, he has always upheld the honour of the Polish soldier’s uniform.
Poland’s choice is an internal matter as it’s part of the Eurocorps structure, as per the battalion’s statement. The Eurocorps remains steady and will proceed to fulfil its NATO and EU obligations. This dismissal arises during escalating security worries in Warsaw due to Russia’s Ukraine conflict, including the recent infringement of Polish airspace by Russian missiles.
This week, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, posed a threat to Poland and other NATO countries adjacent to Russia and Belarus. He enquired his military leaders about their readiness for possible conflict in the area. – The Financial Times Limited Copyright 2024.