Sikorsky Slams Nawrocki Team Over Ukraine Envoy

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorsky sharply criticized President Karol Nawrocki’s office on Monday, Sept. 14, after it suggested that Piotr Lukasiewicz might not be approved as Poland’s ambassador to Ukraine.According to Polish outlet Onet⁠, presidential spokesman Rafal Leskiewicz discussed Lukasiewicz’s nomination during an interview with TOK FM.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Leskiewicz said Nawrocki was prepared to discuss the appointment with Sikorsky but warned that the president might ultimately refuse to approve the candidate.He urged officials to examine Lukasiewicz’s professional record and his speech during commemorations marking the anniversary of the Volhynia massacres.Leskiewicz also claimed that Nawrocki and Sikorsky had previously reached a potential compromise over the appointment but that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had blocked it.Sikorsky rejected the presidential office’s position in a post on X⁠, arguing that Nawrocki could not freely reject ambassadorial candidates who had already received parliamentary backing.“You are neither the Foreign Ministry’s HR department nor the Sun King’s court,” Sikorsky wrote.The foreign minister also compared the dispute to Nawrocki’s refusal to swear in judges elected by Poland’s parliament.According to Sikorsky, the president has no right to “pick and choose” among candidates approved by the Sejm’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Other Topics of Interest Kharkiv Holds First Pride March Since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion About 200 activists, allies, service members, and veterans joined the carefully secured march through the metro system of Ukraine’s front-line city. Volhynia remarks deepen the disputeLukasiewicz has led Poland’s diplomatic mission in Kyiv as chargé d’affaires since Sept. 1, 2024, but has not received the presidential appointment required to serve formally as ambassador.He is a reserve colonel and previously served as Poland’s ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2014.The latest dispute follows controversy over a speech Lukasiewicz delivered during a July commemoration of the Volhynia massacres in Olyka, western Ukraine.Lukasiewicz honored Polish victims of “Ukrainian violence” but also mentioned Ukrainian victims of actions by the Polish state before and during World War II.The remarks prompted criticism from some former Polish diplomats and politicians, who accused him of drawing a false equivalence between the Volhynia massacres and retaliatory violence by Polish forces. Sikorsky subsequently defended the diplomat.The disagreement resurfaced shortly after Sikorsky’s latest trip to the Ukrainian capital. Lukasiewicz was among the officials who welcomed him at Kyiv’s central railway station on Friday, Sept. 11. The dispute over the appointment comes as Warsaw and Kyiv seek to maintain close security cooperation while addressing tensions over historical memory and the Volhynia massacres. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.