Gambit is simply a chess word that gained extraordinary popularity in Polish publishing. I have already read about the gambits of Tusk, Kaczyński, Holownia and many another politicians. However, journalists frequently usage it mistakenly – as a synonym for cunning, cleverness or overtaking the moves of the opponent. Meanwhile, gambit means consciously sacrificing material, usually a pawn, to lure the opponent into a trap and take control of the center of the board, on which further improvement of the game depends.
Was the resignation of Sławomir Cenckiewicz as Head of BBN specified a move? It won't be until the future. However, it is certain that it does not look like a spontaneous decision. And given the historian's career so far, it is hard to presume that Cenckiewicz intends to quit politics and hand over the organization with a fight.
Who is he?
Sławomir Cenckiewicz, like Karol Nawrocki, is from Tricity. He entered the wide public debate as co-author of the loud book “SB a Lech Wałęsa. origin for Biography". Since then Cenckiewicz has returned to Wałęsa obsessively: in books, statements and polemics. In time, it became clear that Wałęsa was no longer a historical figure to him, and became an almost individual figure: a man whose story needs not so much to be explored as to break apart. The problem is that an simple proportion was lost in this crusade. Even assuming that Wałęsa collaborated with SB in the early 1970s, this does not change the fact that it was an episode before the formation of “Solidarity”, before August ’80, before internment and before the Nobel Peace Prize. Why, then, would he put an end to his full life?
Wałęsie's war made Cenckiewicz fall into PiS orbit. From a historian dealing with the archives of communist peculiar services, he became increasingly a political publicist. In 2016, he became manager of the Military Historical Office and later 1 of the authors of the program "Reset" on TVP. It was formally a documentary series about Poland's policy towards Russia from 2007 to 2015; in practice, the act of indictment against Donald Tusk's team, on which Cenckiewicz made a good profit (as stated in “Gazeta Wyborcza” thanks to this he gained half a million zlotys).
After Karol Nawrocki sensationally won the presidential election last year, Cenckiewicz went up: a small due to the merits of the right hand, a small due to the fact that he had known the fresh president for years. However, the nomination of the Head of BBN from the outset was subject to fundamental controversy: Cenckiewicz had no safety clearance. And without them, the head of the National safety Bureau becomes a painted authoritative who is incapable to execute his duties.
Drug and Map Case
The reason for not granting approval was to be a lie which Cenckiewicz committed in 2021 erstwhile he completed a safety survey and did not admit that he was taking medicine during the depression episode. The historian sued this decision and won both before the Provincial Administrative Court and in the appeal. However, it is worth noting precisely what the NSA ruling was. The court did not say that Cenckiewicz should have received certificates, but only that the procedure for receiving them was carried out incorrectly and should take place again.
Additionally, the case of 2023, erstwhile the territory Attorney's Office in Warsaw issued an indictment against Cenckiewicz and erstwhile head of MON Mariusz Błaszczak. According to the prosecutor as the then manager of the Military Historical Bureau, he was to facilitate Mariusz Błaszczak's access to strategical planning documents, which were then utilized politically, including in the PiS election place and in the series "Reset".
The Public Prosecutor's Office claims that these actions were intended to accomplish individual benefit and to origin “exceptionally serious harm to the Republic of Poland”. Cenckiewicz himself does not plead guilty.
Conflicts at the Palace
And let's add conflicts to the Presidential Palace itself. Sławomir Cenckiewicz like Karol Nawrocki is simply a political debutante and despite many years of public activity there is no backdrop. Therefore, in the face of the written enlistment to the Palace (functions in the fresh administration were given to Paweł Kiebernaker, Zbigniew Bogucki and Marcin Przypocz) he could feel like an outsider. The essence of the conflict was to be a competency dispute with the Useful (head of the presidential abroad policy office). The point was, during a visit to the United States, it was unclear who was to talk to the Americans.
In addition, Sławomir Cenckiewicz is very active on Twitter (and present on the X portal), where his entries appear as frequently as if he was chained to the screen all the time. He had any strong criticisms of Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump. Of course, it's a one-time thing, but it shows Cenckiewicz's uncontrollability, which surely did not appeal to his colleagues from the Law and Justice Service who were taught to behave differently.
A Real Problem
So Cenckiewicz could either stand up, face an unfavorable environment, and frustrate that he could not execute his function or come up with a fresh task. The decision to leave was surely not spontaneous and was discussed with Karol Nawrocki. At the same time, it was immediately reported that the historian would accompany Przemysław Czarnk on his tour of Poland.
Wide encounters with voters are something that can come out to Cenckiewicz truly well, due to the fact that he is an eloquent and culturally talented man, and voters can appreciate it. We must point out that this could be the beginning of the construction of the presidential organization inside the Law and Justice.
So much about the current situation, however, I would like to take advantage of this fact and say that I consider Sławomir Cenckiewicz to be an highly dangerous man. And it's not that he withheld the fact about drugs or showed 1 map on TV. Both situations, although they sound serious, can be explained. The problem is somewhere else. Sławomir Cenckiewicz is simply a man with a mentality as a bin. A man who hates anyone who thinks otherwise, who does not realize the essence of the democratic process, sees no value in dialog or compromise. For him there are no rivals – there are enemies. There is no another thought about the state – it is treason.
He's a man who knows past well as an archive, and he doesn't realize past well as a evidence of human experience. He can decision among documents, dates, names, signatures and folders, but he does not see what is most important: the tragic complexity of past and the ambiguity of human biography. This paradox is peculiarly severe. You can compose distinguished technological works, make excellent queries and feel in archives like a fish in water, and at the same time not know how to see a large picture. You can extract papers from the MFA archive to attest to betrayal, while experienced diplomats explain that they are precisely from considering all possible scenarios. besides those uncomfortable, unpleasant and risky, due to the fact that the destiny of Poland may depend on courage in specified thinking.
But our top prosecutor doesn't hear that anymore. He's not curious in entering someone's biography, mentality, and trying to decipher motivation. That's a sucker for him. It's about catching a word, putting up an indictment and moving in front of a camera with a triumphant smile.
In chess, specified playing usually ends badly: you can throw a pawn spectacularly, you can shout “cheese”, you can look like a superb strategist for a while. But if you don't see the full board, sooner or later it turns out it wasn't gambitic. It was just a waste of material.
