{"id":15991,"date":"2018-01-09T15:16:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T15:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/09\/macierewicz-out-as-polish-defense-minister\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:34:11","slug":"macierewicz-out-as-polish-defense-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/01\/09\/macierewicz-out-as-polish-defense-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Macierewicz out as Polish defense minister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz has been removed from his position and will be replaced by former Interior Minister Mariusz B\u0142aszczak, the Polish government announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macierewicz was removed from office as part of a broad reshuffle of cabinet positions by the ruling conservative Law and Justice party, or PiS. Local reports indicate<\/a> he had clashed with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who wields a strong hand on internal PiS issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 69-year-old Macierewicz had served as defense minister since PiS took power in 2015 and served as the public face of a major military buildup for Poland. He was also the local defense host for the 2016 NATO summit in Warsaw, during which Poland announced it would clear the 2 percent gross domestic product defense spending target for NATO members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent essay for Defense News, Macierewicz pledged that in 2018 his country would finalize agreements in air defense, long-range artillery, helicopters and submarine projects, as well as continue Polish missions in Latvia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t