Poland's new conservative government is to recall 10 ambassadors with links to communist-era authorities, the first such sweeping move in 16 years of democracy, the Foreign Ministry announced today.
Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Dobrowolski
Foreign Minister Stefan Meller decided to cut short the ambassadors' missions amid a broader attempt by the new government to purge state offices of ex-communists, ministry spokesman Pawel Dobrowolski told reporters.
Dobrowolski refused to identify the ambassadors being recalled, but Polish media identified them as the ambassadors to Algeria, Argentina, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Israel, Lithuania and Slovenia.
The ambassador to Germany, Andrzej Byrt, has said publicly that he was informed his term was ending.
The ambassadors were "linked to communist-era special services or to the communist party" before communism's fall in 1989, Dobrowolski said.
"This means that to the current state authorities in charge of foreign policy, they have lost credibility as representatives of Poland," he said, adding that it was the first large-scale diplomatic recall for such political reasons since Poland's transition to democracy.
Marek Siwiec, adviser to the previous, ex-communist president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, described the decision as "disturbing, unprecedented" and "personal revenge."
New President Lech Kaczynski, a former anti-communist activist, was expected to approve the decision, which will take effect later this year.
The new government of Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz took office on a program that includes purging ex-communists from positions of influence.
Kaczynski, a co-founder of Marcinkiewicz's Law and Justice party, won the presidency on the same promises.
AP