Poland to Lay Off Diplomats Who Worked Under Communism

Poland to Lay Off Diplomats Who Worked Under Communism
Warsaw residents attend state ceremonies in honor of clandestine anti-communist fighters of the post-World War II era in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, Poland on March 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
The Associated Press
3/14/2017
Updated:
3/14/2017

WARSAW, Poland—Poland’s prime minister says a government-proposed bill calling for the dismissal of Foreign Ministry staff and diplomats who worked under communism is “necessary.”

The ruling conservative party has made it a priority to remove from top state jobs people whose careers developed under communism.

On Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo approved a draft law that would lay off all Foreign Ministry employees hired before communism ended in 1989.

Szydlo said the proposal, which still faces a vote by legislators, would improve Poland’s diplomatic work.

It would not cover Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who joined the ministry in 1992.

Recently revealed documents allege that Poland’s ambassador to Germany, Andrzej Przylebski, collaborated with communist-era secret security.