According to Onet, the top emotions were caused by the nomination of Colonel Piotr Bieńek, the boy of General Mieczysław Bieńek, who is the social advisor to defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. On July 17, he took up the prestigious position of commander of the 6th Airborne Brigade. In the army, that decision was expected to "bring the bitterness spell."
Controversial promotions in the military. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish under fire
In August 2024, Gen. Bieńek's second son, Colonel Mieczysław Bieniek junior, was promoted. At the same time, Colonel Mirosław Bodnar, brother of Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, celebrated his promotion. Both of them went to general posts as colonels – 1 to the General Staff of the Polish Army, the another to the General Command.
Colonel Bodnar took over as head of the Unmanned Systems Inspectorate. However, as the military say, he had no experience with drones. – He is simply a smart guy, but with drones he has as much in common as I do with ballet – said anonymously 1 of the Onetu callers.
According to Onetu, Kosiniak-Kamish's individual intervention at Duda was to be behind their promotions. The National safety Bureau was to accept the nominations at the "clear request of Andrzej Duda".
The army is becoming more irritated. 1 of the officers told the portal, "We were critical of Macerewicz and Błaszczak for promotions after considering. That's why we gave Kosiniak the benefit of the doubt. He let us down on the full line. Favouring relatives and friends is the norm in the army today".
The criticism besides touches Colonel Peter Pack, boy of General Bogusław Pack. His promotion to the head of the General Staff Coordination Centre besides raises questions – previously his career was blocked, now he got 1 of the key functions and this despite deficiency of the required experience.
Andrzej Duda's son-in-law at the head of the fund associated with the Polish Armed Forces Group
This isn't over. As Onet reveals, Mateusz Zawitowski, the son-in-law of president Duda (in June he was inactive Kinga Dudy's fiancé, the couple married on July 5), became president of MS Association of Investment Funds – an entity affiliated with the Polish Armed Forces Group.
"Since spring this year, the Polish Defence Fund has been created at the initiative of the Ministry of National Defence. MS TFI led by Zawistowski is elected to this organization, which, together with the MON and the Bank for Environmental Protection, starts working on setting up a fund. The thought of the fund is that the MON through this entity funds young technology companies" – the article states.
MON in consequence to Onetu's questions said Kosiniak-Kamish "had no knowledge" that Zawitowski was a future associate of the president's family. The hotel besides repudiates allegations of nepotism.
"Behind these nominations lies the military experience, skills and competence of officers, besides participation in abroad missions and long-term service in the Polish Army. It is hard to brand the officers just due to the fact that their parents, their family, as best they could, served in the Polish Army" - assures MON.
