ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 32, No. 4 (PL) September 2020 Poland external relations briefing: Change in the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft.
[email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: CHen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 Change in the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs At the end of August, Zbigniew Rau was appointed to the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This was a surprising change in the office of the head of diplomacy during a rather difficult situation with Poland's closest neighbours. Where does this change come from, what are the new Minister's priorities and plans for the nearest political future? Resignation of the current head of diplomacy On August 26, President Andrzej Duda officially appointed Zbigniew Rau as the new head of Polish diplomacy. Rau replaced the former MFA, Jacek Czaputowicz, who signalled already in July this year that he would like to leave the office. On August 20, Czaputowicz officially resigned, arguing that "after the presidential elections (which took place at the end of June and July 2020 - author's note), it is a good time to change the head of Polish diplomacy". Czaputowicz held this position from January 9, 2018. Previously, he was the director of a department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head of the Diplomatic Academy, deputy head of the Civil Service Council and director of the National School of Public Administration, as well as deputy foreign minister responsible for legal and treaty matters.