Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Thursday that Zbigniew Rau would replace Jacek Czaputowicz as the head of the foreign ministry, and Adam Niedzielski would become the new health minister, replacing Łukasz Szumowski. Czaputowicz announced his resignation earlier that day, whereas Szumowski - on Tuesday.
Poland has appointed Zbigniew Rau, the chair of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, to the post of foreign minister, as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in the EU response to a political crisis in neighbouring Belarus.
At a news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also said that economist Adam Niedzielski, the head of the national health fund (NFZ), had been appointed health minister.
The appointments come at a crucial time for both ministries, as Poland grapples with rising daily coronavirus cases and seeks to push the EU to take an active diplomatic stance towards Belarus, a close Russian ally whose borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are major NATO frontiers.
"Today both men are certainly mentally, intellectually and spiritually immersing themselves in the issues they will be responsible for," Morawiecki said.
The appointments come two days after the departure of previous Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski, and hours after Jacek Czaputowicz resigned as foreign minister on Thursday morning.
Czaputowicz had signalled in July he may quit, as the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party announced it planned personnel changes in the government during a reshuffle in the autumn that could see the number of ministries reduced.
Szumowski's approach in the early stages of the pandemic made him Poland's most trusted politician in April, but his image has been dented by scandals surrounding the purchase of ventilators and masks.
Szumowski has denied any wrongdoing.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP