Poland’s foreign minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, has announced his resignation. It marks the fourth ministerial departure from the government this week, following the surprise resignation of the health minister two days ago, as well as those of two deputy ministers.
“The minister has previously stated that after [July’s] presidential elections would be a good moment for change at the head of Poland’s diplomacy,” said the foreign ministry in a brief statement this morning.
Czaputowicz, who has served in the role since January 2018, had preempted his resignation a few weeks earlier in an interview with Rzeczpospolita, where he said that his departure after the presidential election had been agreed with the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.
At the time, he denied being under any pressure to resign, saying that in his opinion this would be “a good time to change at the head of our diplomacy”.
FM #Czaputowicz met with Valery and Veranika Tsapkala who arrived yesterday to 🇵🇱.
Minister expressed strong recognition for the determination of the Belarusian civil society and assured of the Poland’s support as in the 5-point package announced by PM @MorawieckiM. pic.twitter.com/DVcQvlV6Y9
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) August 19, 2020
In its Thursday statement, the ministry also expressed the minister’s “conviction that his successor will continue the current line and further strengthen Poland’s position in the international arena”.
Among Czaputowicz’s final activities have been seeking to build consensus among European states for joint action towards Belarus, following its disputed election and the ongoing protests and government crackdown.
Poland’s foreign minister was one of the first European officials to speak out against President Alexander Lukashenko’s claimed victory on 9 August. Czaputowicz stated on the morning of 10 August that Poland “cannot recognise [the elections] as meeting democratic standards”.
Czaputowicz yesterday held conversations about the situation with his Swedish, Slovakian and Albania counterparts. He also met with Belarusian opposition figures Valery and Veronika Tsepkalo.
During his tenure, Czaputowicz has himself had to respond to charges against the Polish government that it has violated democratic standards and the rule of law.
Ahead of recent discussions over the next EU budget, he strongly rejected the proposal to link European funds to rule-of-law compliance. Czaputowicz argued that it would be impossible to establish “objective criteria” for such a mechanism, meaning that it may be used as a “political instrument” to “punish states”.
However, Czaputowicz – who is not an elected politician and has spent most of his career as a civil servant and academic – was widely seen to have little influence on the overall shape of Poland’s foreign policy during his tenure.
Poland's foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz officially resigns in the midst of the crisis in Belarus 🇧🇾. But is it a big deal? Not really. His influence within the ruling camp was close to zero and during his tenure the MFA was reduced to a merely administrative role. https://t.co/5PiFJs6Qlo
— Adam Traczyk (@A_Traczyk) August 20, 2020
Czaputowicz’s departure comes amid a series of resignations from the government. A cabinet reshuffle had been expected in the autumn, but some ministers appear have decided to hasten their expected departures.
Earlier this week, the health minister and his deputy unexpectedly quit, prompting speculation as to whether their decisions related to investigations by prosecutors into allegations of wrongdoing in response to the coronavirus crisis.
A deputy minister for digital affairs, Wanda Buk, also departed, and immediately took up a position as vice-president for regulation at state-owned PGE, Poland’s biggest energy group.
Main image credit: Sebastian Indra /MSZ (under CC BY-NC 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
