NEW HEAD OF CHANCELLERY A LOYAL KACZYNSKI

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001630

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2011
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PL
SUBJECT: NEW HEAD OF CHANCELLERY A LOYAL KACZYNSKI
CONFIDANTE


Classified By: CDA Kenneth M. Hillas, reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. 43-year-old Aleksander Szczyglo is a Lech
Kaczynski protege and one of the President's closest
confidantes. Szczyglo's appointment as Head of the
Presidential Chancellery will assure a loyal staff operation,
but may not necessarily affect policy formulation. Though a
member of the inner circle of the President and his brother
PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Szczyglo appears at first glance to be
a follower rather than someone who will bring new ideas or
initiate policy in his own right. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Aleksander Marek Szczyglo was appointed Head of the
Presidential Chancellery on August 2, 2006. During the
official swearing in President Lech Kaczynski emphasized that
he had known Szczyglo for many years and called him "one of
my closest friends and co-workers." Szczyglo had previously
been Deputy Minister of Defense since December 23, 2005, with
responsibility for social policy and supervision of the
military intelligence services. He is a member of the ruling
Law and Justice party (PiS),serving his second four-year
term in parliament (re-elected in September 2005). In the
previous parliament (2001-2005),Szczyglo was Deputy Chairman
of the parliamentary committee for European Affairs
(previously the EU Affairs committee) and also sat on the
Committee for Constitutional
Accountability.


3. (U) For several months prior to his election to Parliament
in 2001, Szczyglo was an advisor to the Chairman of the
Management Board of PKO BP Bank. From 1997 to 2000, he
worked as a department director in the European Integration
Committee (UKIE). From January to October of 1997, Szczyglo
served as Advisor to the Chief Inspector of the Main Labor
Inspectorate, and he worked 1992-1995 as Chief of Cabinet to
the Chairman of the Supreme Audit Chamber (NIK) when Lech
Kaczynski held that office. Szczyglo worked 1991-1992 in the
National Security Bureau, and 1990-1991 in the legal office
of the Solidarity's National Committee.


4. (U) Aleksander Szczyglo graduated in 1990 from the Law and
Administration Department of Gdansk University, where he was
a favorite student of then-Professor Lech Kaczynski.
Szczyglo completed postgraduate studies in administration at
the University of Wisconsin in 1996. He was born October 27,
1963 in Jeziorany in the northeast of Poland. Szczyglo is
single, although press reports about his nomination recalled
that in the past he has been seen in public with Elzbieta
Kruk, another long-time Lech Kaczynski confidante who is now
head of the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiT) and
is also single.


5. (C) Szczyglo resembles Lech Kaczynski in temperament -
quiet and reserved. In meetings with foreign diplomats, he
sometimes can be stiff and taciturn. He speaks with the
intensity and conviction of a committed Solidarity activist
and ardent anti-Communist. When discussing military reforms
soon after the PiS government took office, Szczyglo returned
again and again to the theme of "purging" the military of all
vestiges of the pre-1989 Communist era, echoing the overall
PiS approach. While at MOD, Szczyglo also advocated
continued and even broadened military conscription --
notwithstanding the Defense Minister's public goal of moving
to an all professional force -- as a means to "educate the
youth of our nation and instill an appropriate sense of
patriotism."


6. (C) Aleksander Szczyglo is clearly a close confidante of
Lech Kaczynski. Whether he has a similarly close political
relationship with PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski is not clear.
Szczyglo is regarded as intensely loyal to Lech, who has been
his mentor both academically and professionally. According
to the media, Szczyglo is one of the few people in Poland
whom the extremely private and reserved Lech Kaczynski allows
to address him by his first name, - and reportedly he can
walk into the President's office any time he wants.


7. (C) COMMENT. Although in the inner circle, Szczyglo seems
less an initiator of policy than a loyal supporter, and is
thus seemingly perfectly suited to head Lech's Chancellery.
His appointment will bring the Chancellery under firm
control, which was not always the case under his predecessor
Andzrej Urbanski. One of Szczyglo's challenges will be to
enhance the coordination of policy-making with and between
the PM's chancellery and relevant ministries. We do not
expect Szczyglo to have a significant impact on the direction
of Polish foreign and defense policy - he is more likely to
focus on coordination and implementation than on substance.
END COMMENT
HILLAS