Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Chief Radosław Sikorski said on social media that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted 95 applications for the “For Long Service” medal, of which only 48 were approved.
“We have not received any information on the criteria used to consider the service of half of our staff as insufficient,” Sikorski wrote.
Earlier, TVN24 reported that the President had rejected all 130 award applications submitted by the Internal Security Agency (ABW).
Similar refusals affected nominations for officers and soldiers in military intelligence services, including personnel involved in countering acts of sabotage linked to foreign states.
The controversy follows a previous dispute over officer promotions.
President Nawrocki had blocked 136 nominations to the first officer rank in the ABW and the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) during the Independence Day period. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on 27 November that he would continue to submit requests for the promotions “until they are approved.”
The scale of the President’s refusals has prompted criticism from senior government figures, who say the decisions undermine both morale and recognition for staff who serve Poland in high-risk roles.
Read more about this topic:
(mp)
Source: IAR/TVN24/MSZ