Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has accepted the resignation of Tomasz Turowski, head of the political department of the Polish embassy in Moscow. Mr Turowski, active in Polish diplomacy since the 1970s, is accused by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) of having made false statements in his vetting declaration. Vetting, or lustration, is common in post-communist countries and aims to exclude those associated with abuses under the communist regime from participation in political life. In a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website, spokesperson Marcin Bosacki explained that Minister Sikorski had accepted the resignation immediately. Under the code number 9596, Mr Turowski worked in the upper echelons of the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the communist regime. Mr Turowski was first posted to the Vatican in the late 1970s, and then in various locations in the Soviet Union. He joined the Eastern Europe department of the Foreign Ministry in 1993 and was named ambassador to Cuba in 2001. According to Rzeczpospolita, Mr Turowski became one of Minister Sikorski’s most trusted advisors on Polish-Russian relations. Officials found guilty of lying in a vetting process are prohibited from holding public office for a period of three to ten years.
http://www.wbj.pl/article-52673-polish-diplomat-stationed-in-russia-resigns.html?typ=ise
