Name of Poland's likely next ambassador to Ukraine revealed

That’s according to Gazeta Wyborcza citing its sources, Ukrinform reports.

As the publication notes, despite opposition from President Andrzej Duda, a new wave of dismissals of Polish ambassadors appointed by the previous government will come in June. Among candidates for rotations are envoys to Ukraine, Italy, Germany, the United States, and the Council of Europe. However, the newspaper emphasizes, Duda does not intend to sign the new appointments. Therefore, the old ambassadors recalled from these countries and organizations will formally remain in office, and each newly appointed diplomat will work as a temporary chargé d'affaires of Poland for the time being.

Piotr Łukasiewicz, a 52-year-old Polish military officer and diplomat, is set to take up the ambassador’s post in Ukraine. He has a military education and has been dealing with security issues throughout his career. In particular, in 2004-2005 he was on a mission in Iraq, in 2006 he was deputy military attache in Pakistan, and from 2007 to 2010 he served as a military attache in Afghanistan. After being discharged from the Polish army in colonel’s rank, during 2012-2014, Lukasiewicz served as Polish Ambassador to Afghanistan. After returning to Poland, he continued to engage in academic, journalistic, and expert work.

The spokesman of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pawel Wronski, said during a media briefing on Monday, without going into details, that "procedures related to the rotation of ambassadors are ongoing."

Previously, the head of the Polish MFA, Radoslaw Sikorski, already spoke of a planned rotation of over 50 ambassadors.

Currently, Poland’s Ambassador to Ukraine is currently Jaroslaw Guzy, who arrived in Kyiv last November. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accepted his credentials on April 22. At the end of 2023, Jaroslaw Guzy replaced Bartosz Cichocki, who had held the post of Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine since February 2019.

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