The National Prosecutor's Office of Poland has launched an investigation against the former Defense Minister of the Republic Antoni Macierewicz, according to a statement published on the prosecutor's office's website.
Macierewicz, who headed the Polish Defense Ministry in 2015-2018, is suspected of committing “diplomatic treason“. It is explained that he “prevented Poland from joining the international program for the purchase of refueling aircraft“, which could have led to “reducing the potential of the Polish Armed Forces and negatively affecting the strategic security of the state“. In addition, according to the prosecutor's office, as a result of Macierewicz's decision, the Ministry of Defense suffered damages in the amount of EUR 473,600. These are expenses incurred by the department in connection with the preparation for joining the program.
The former minister may be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
At the end of October 2024, the Polish government commission for the investigation of the “influence of the Russian Federation and Belarus“ examined Macierewicz's actions and recommended that the collected materials be sent to the prosecutor's office for a legal assessment of the possibility of his committing a crime under Article 129 of the Polish Criminal Code, that is, diplomatic treason. As stated in the report, Macierewicz, without reason and unexpectedly for the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, decided to withdraw from the NATO program for the joint supply of tanker aircraft in 2016. As part of the program, Warsaw was to purchase seven such aircraft and it was planned to open a special alliance air base in Powidz (in the center of the country).