A decision whose reasons are covered by defense secrecy. The Polish Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that it had recalled and removed from office “with immediate effect” the Polish commander of the single general staff, Eurocorps, following a military counterespionage investigation.
The intelligence services have “opened a monitoring investigation” into Lieutenant General Jaroslaw Gromadzinski’s access to information covered by secrecy, following “new information about the officer”, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense .
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“As a result, a decision was taken to dismiss General Gromadzinski from his duties as commander of the Eurocorps and to immediately recall him to his country,” said the ministry, according to which another officer will be designated to “ensure continuity » to the position held until now by the general, and it is “with immediate effect”.
Responsible for training Ukrainian soldiers
“This is a sovereign decision taken by the Polish Ministry of National Defense. Eurocorps, a multinational headquarters with 6 framework nations and 5 associated nations, continues its ongoing activities,” reacted in a press release the institution whose headquarters is based in Strasbourg (eastern France), a symbolic city. of Franco-German reconciliation and European construction.
“The command structure is organized in a robust and resilient manner,” it was added. No details regarding the new information on the general, nor on the ongoing investigation, were provided by the Polish ministry.
Before taking rotating command of the Eurocorps in June, which changes every two years, General Gromadzinski was notably advisor-coordinator to the chief of general staff of the Polish army. In recent months, he served as part of the International Assistance Team for Ukraine in Wiesbaden, Germany where, alongside U.S. service members, he was responsible for training Ukrainian soldiers.
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Created in 1992, Eurocorps is a unique army corps bringing together a thousand soldiers from six member countries, known as “framework nations” (France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland), which finance and administer the organization. Several “associated nations” (Greece, Turkey, Italy, Romania and Austria) also support the Eurocorps, providing it with officers on the general staff.
This corps, whose mission is to direct and coordinate large-scale multinational operations on behalf of the EU and NATO, can command up to 60,000 ground forces.