State Security in the Policy Statements (‘Exposé’) of Polish Prime Ministers from Tadeusz Mazowiecki to Beata Szydło

Abstract

Within the period 1990–2015 the Prime Minister's policy statement, called the ‘exposé’, was delivered fifteen times to the Polish Parliament. It should be emphasized that each Prime Minister’s exposé analyzed in this article was placed within the context of the contemporary internal policy and the contemporary international policy. Its meaning was enhanced by the fact that every Prime Minister pointed out the role of the Parliament and government as an institution, which after 1989 – no matter what political party the Prime Minister came from, was amicably building and strengthening democracy based on free elections of the central and local government, decentralization of power in the country,the principle of freedom of speech and assembly and the freedom of conducting business activity in the free market. They emphasized the role of civil society in the consolidation of the democratic system. Every Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that most of the institutions of public life in Poland were built from scratch, others were overhauled. From the point of view of state security the most important institution was the army. For this reason each Prime Minister discussed the place and role of the military in the state, their role in the process of realization of the current national security policy, international cooperation and assumed international obligations. The Prime Minister explained proposed reforms in the army and also referred to the precepts of the directions of the policy of state security. Within the period 1990–2015 the Prime Minister's policy statement, called the ‘exposé’, was delivered fifteen times before the Polish Parliament. Apart from the economic and social programs, in their speeches Prime Ministers also referred to the matters of national security. Until Poland's accession to NATO in 1999 the Policy Statement of every Prime Minister was dominated by the problem of Poland's preparation for entering that defence pact. When Poland became a full NATO member, it was the role of Poland in the military alliance and the readiness of the pact to repel the new challenges related to security, including terrorist attacks, which became critical for each Polish Prime Minister. After delivering the exposé the Prime Ministers requested of Parliament a vote of confidence.