Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06WARSAW1798
2006-08-26 05:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Warsaw
Cable title:  

NEW DEPUTY DEFMINS: MACIEREWICZ STIRS UP

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR PL 
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Anne W McNeill 10/13/2006 02:59:57 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results

Cable 
Text: 
 
 
C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 01798

SIPDIS
CXWARSAW:
 ACTION: POL
 INFO: CONS ORA ECON DCM PAS AMB

DISSEMINATION: POLX /1
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCWRO503
PP RUEHWR
DE RUEHWR #1798/01 2380500
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 260500Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1790
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW 1277
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHWRA/USDAO WARSAW PL
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001798 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PL
SUBJECT: NEW DEPUTY DEFMINS: MACIEREWICZ STIRS UP
CONTROVERSY, WHILE WINID GETS TO WORK

REF: A. WARSAW 01171


B. WARSAW 01610

Classified By: PolCouns Mary T. Curtin for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001798

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PL
SUBJECT: NEW DEPUTY DEFMINS: MACIEREWICZ STIRS UP
CONTROVERSY, WHILE WINID GETS TO WORK

REF: A. WARSAW 01171


B. WARSAW 01610

Classified By: PolCouns Mary T. Curtin for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Newly appointed MOD U/S Antoni Macierewicz,
responsible for transformation of the military intelligence
services (REF A),has triggered an uproar by accusing "most
former Polish foreign ministers" of being Soviet agents. PM
Kaczynski who forced the appointment over DefMin Sikorski's
objections, has allowed Macierewicz to stay on for now,
apparently favoring his anti-Communist agenda over domestic
political stability. In contrast, Boguslaw Winid, the new
MOD U/S responsible for international cooperation and former
Polish DCM in Washington, has solid foreign policy
credentials and close ties with Sikorski. Though he lacks
strong backing from Kaczynski or PiS, Winid's pragmatic
approach and knowledge of the U.S. should have a salutary
effect on Embassy relations with the MOD. END SUMMARY.
--------------
Macierewicz: Anti-Communist Firebrand
--------------


2. (C) Less than a month after being appointed Undersecretary
at MOD, Antoni Macierewicz has already triggered controversy.
In an August 20 TV interview, Macierewicz claimed that "A
majority of former (Polish) foreign ministers were agents of
the Soviet special services." He then added that all of
Poland's former FMs had acted in the interest of "post Soviet
structures" (a reference to Russia) when they signed a letter
criticizing President Lech Kaczynski for his failure to
attend the Weimar Triangle Summit in July 2006. DefMin Radek
Sikorski questioned Macierewicz's right as a senior
intelligence official with top secret clearances to make such
allegations in public, and demanded a written explanation,
while Minister for Special Services Zbigniew Wasserman said
publicly he had chastised Macierewicz. PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski
called Macierewicz on the carpet to explain his remarks but
then apparently accepted the explanation, as Macierewicz has
been permitted to stay on. When asked by the press what he
had told the PM, Macierewicz simply replied that the
information was "confidential," and the PM has also kept
silent.


3. (C) Macierewicz's bombshell accusations have resonated
among the political elite and throughout government. Former
Defense Minister and deputy speaker of the parliament
Bronislaw Komorowski (PO) spoke for many in the opposition
when he strongly criticized Macierewicz and called for his
immediate dismissal. The incident has also had a severe
effect on morale among career diplomats at the Polish MFA,
who were already suffering from their loss of influence on
government policy. MFA Americas Director Henryk Szlajfer
told PolCouns that Deputy Minister Barbara Tuge-Erecinska led
a group of senior career officials to a disappointing meeting
with FM Fotyga, who refused to address their requests that
she speak out in defense of her predecessors.


4. (C) Appointed by PM Kaczynski on July 22, 2006,
Macierewicz is managing the ongoing liquidation of the
Military Information Services (WSI) and the creation of the
new, separate Military Intelligence Service (SWW) and
Military Counter Intelligence Service (SKW) which should come
into being October 1, 2006 (Ref A). Macierewicz also heads
the verification committee vetting former and current WSI
officers applying for the new services. The vetting is meant
to exclude both those with ties to the pre-1989 regime and
those engaging in "illegal commercial activities"
(corruption). Press reports indicate that some WSI officers
have implicated colleagues in past scandals - ample material
for further political inquisitions.


5. (C) Macierewicz has a history of witch hunting, and until
his appointment was seen by many as almost paranoid in his
conspiracy theories about Poland's recent history. While
Interior Minister in the short-lived 1992 government of
former PM Jan Olszewski (now an adviser to both President
Lech Kaczynski and the verification committee),Macierewicz
leaked to the press a list of 66 presumed former informants
of the Communist era Security Service (SB). The political
uproar over the "Macierewicz list" brought down the Olszewski
government and weakened the Solidarity coalition then in
power. The "Macierewicz list" included many well known
opposition activists of the day, lending some credence to
charges that Macierewicz's "crusade" against former
communists was actually a pretext for attacking rivals in the
Solidarity camp.


5. (U) Macierewicz has led a number of strongly conservative
and nationalistic groups. Currently he is chairman of the
Patriotic Movement, a political party he established with Jan
Olszewski before the 2005 parliamentary elections that
garnered only 1.5% of the votes and thus failed to enter the
Sejm. Previously he was chairman of the National Catholic
Movement and a member of the National Christian Union.


6. (U) Macierewicz has held various government offices. He
served in the Sejm for three terms: 1991-1993, 1997-2001 and
2001-2005. In 2001 he was elected from the League of Polish
Families (LPR) list and sat on the European Committee
(2001-2004),Foreign Affairs Committee (2001-2005) and the
Investigative Committee for the PKN Orlen corruption case
(2001-2005). From 1997-2001 he chaired the Sejm Intelligence
Committee.


7. (U) Macierewicz was active in the opposition under
Communist rule. He was arrested and interned in 1968 and was
later one of the 14 original founders of the Committee for
the Defense of Workers (KOR),a Solidarity pre-cursor.
Macierewicz was born in 1948 and graduated from the
University of Warsaw in 1971. He is married with a daughter
and two grandchildren.
-------------- --------------
Winid: U.S.-savvy Diplomat and Sikorski Confidante
-------------- --------------


8. (C) PM Kaczynski appointed Boguslaw Winid as
Undersecretary of Defense for International Relations on
August 11, 2006. In contrast to Macierewicz, Winid is
pragmatic and professional, an experienced diplomat who came
to the job from five years as DCM in Washington. Winid is
close to DefMin Sikorski, who lobbied hard for the nomination
despite reported opposition within the ruling Law and Justice
party (PiS). Winid will be responsible for essentially all
contacts with foreign partners, including the U.S., and his
relationship with Sikorski and experience in Washington
suggest that he will be a valuable contact.


9. (U) Winid's diplomatic career has America written all over
it. From 2001-2006 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at
the Polish Embassy in Washington DC. From 1998-2001 he
headed the Americas Department at MFA, where he was also
Deputy Director in 1998. From 1992-1997 he served as First
Secretary and later Counselor of Embassy in Washington with a

SIPDIS
focus on congressional relations.. Winid completed his
diplomatic training at the Hoover Institute at Stanford
University in 1991, the same year in which he joined the MFA
Department of North and South America.


10. (U) Winid has an illustrious academic career. In 1991,
he defended his doctoral dissertation on inter-war
Polish-U.S. diplomatic relations. He studied at Indiana
University 1988-89, following a teaching appointment at
Warsaw University's American Studies Center. Winid graduated
from Warsaw University in 1984 after having written his
thesis on British participation in the Crimean War. He is
married to Beata, a history teacher, and has a son Albert in
high school. Winid speaks English (fluently) and Russian.
He was born on November 3, 1960.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------

11. (C) Macierewicz's irresponsible behavior and attacks on
Poland's pre-2006 foreign policy apparatus has created a
poisonous atmosphere among diplomats and politicians,
including some Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Pawel
Zalewski (PiS) and Deputy PM Andrzej Lepper of Self-Defense
(SO). Since PM Kaczynski has left the whole question open by
pointedly declining to address the substance of Macierewicz's
allegations, this matter is far from over and the effect on
MFA morale may worsen. The episode is also instructive of
DefMin Sikorski's ambiguous relationship with PM Kaczynski
and the PiS leadership. It was Kaczynski who summoned
Macierewicz and Wasserman who scolded him, while Sikorski was
left asking merely for a letter.


12. (C) At the same time, Winid's appointment bodes well for
the U.S., bringing solid foreign policy advice to Sikorski's
team. He is someone the Embassy can work with and he has
Sikorski's ear. In addition, Winid has an excellent
relationship with key Embassy contacts at MFA, including U/S
Witold Waszczykowski, Americas Director Henryk Szlajfer and
Security Policy Director Robert Kupiecki. He understand the
way Washington works, although like Sikorski he seems at
times to overestimate the extent to which he can "deliver
Washington" to the government leadership.
END COMMENT
ASHE