Institute

Krzysztof Łaszkiewicz
Krzysztof Hubert Łaszkiewicz graduated from University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Law and Administration. He is a Doctor of Juridical Science, a degree he received from UW’s Faculty of Law and Administration.
While working for the state administration, he dealt with legal and organizational issues related to the functioning of administration, associations and social organisations.

After 1989, he was involved in preparing associations and social organisations’ bylaws guided by the principles of a democratic rule of law, and in co-founding new civic associations.

As an expert of the Sejm, he worked on the guidelines for the political transformation with respect to regulation of property rights and ownership transformation. He advised political groupings on the regulation of ownership relations.

He is the author and co-author of draft laws on property restitution and compensations.

Between 1993 and 1996, he was the chairman of the Consultative Council on Property Restitution.

From 1997 to 2001 he served as Deputy Minister of the State Treasury. His work focused on the regulation of the ownership law and on issues related to capital markets and funds. He also was in control of ownership transformation processes and was the supervisor of State Treasury real estates.

Between 1997 and 2001, he was a member of: Inter-Ministerial Group for Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad, Polish Securities and Exchange Commission, and Committee for Export Insurance Policy.

In the same period, he served as Co-Chair of the Group for Ownership Transformation of the Public Utilities Sector in the Joint Committee of the Central Government and Territorial Governments, which dealt with administrative reform, and was a member of the Tripartite Commission as a representative of the Government.

Between 2007 and 2010, he was again Deputy Minister of the Treasury. His work focused on property law regulation and ownership claims, and corporate governance over the military industry and over real properties of the State Treasury, among others. His responsibilities included monitoring of ownership transformation, and corporate bankruptcy and liquidation processes. He was a member of the Council of Ministers’ Standing Committee and of the Council of Ministers’ Committee for Computerisation and Communications.
By decision of 30 September 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, appointed Krzysztof Łaszkiewicz the Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland. In the Chancellery, he dealt with legal and political matters, as well as with citizenship and presidential pardon requests.

Council of the Foundation

Jan Dworak
President of the Council of the Foundation
Media expert, film and TV producer, journalist.
Born in 1948. He graduated from University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Polish Studies. He began his work as a journalist in the 1970s in sports magazines, while publishing Samizdat press and books as part of the democratic opposition movement.
Founder and the first chairman of Solidarity trade union at Młodzieżowa Agencja Wydawnicza publishing house. A journalist in the first edition of Tygodnik Solidarność weekly (1981) and organiser of its resumed publication in 1989.
In the 1980s co-organiser and editorial secretary of Powściągliwość i Praca and Przegląd Katolicki periodicals, one of the editors of the underground PWA – Przegląd Wydawnictw Agencyjnych and 21 magazines.
He was a secretary for negotiations on the opposition side of the Polish Round Table Talks in 1989 at the Governor’s Palace, a member of the mass media subgroup.
In the early 1990s, Vice-Chairman of the Radio and Television Committee, then a film producer and co-owner of Prasa i Film and Studio A companies, producing political commentary shows, documentaries, TV series (Miodowe Lata, Kasia i Tomek), TV plays and films (Czas Zdrady, All That I Love).
He held pro bono positions in cultural institutions: Chairman of Polish Television Programme Board, Member of the State Cinema Committee (Komitet Kinematografii), Chairman of Independent TV and Film Producers Association (Niezależne Stowarzyszenie Producentów Filmowych i Telewizyjnych).
Between 2004 and 2006, he was the President of the Management Board of TVP Polish Television. In 2010-2016, Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV)
Awarded Meritorious for Polish Culture decoration of honour (1999), Gloria Artis Silver Medal for Merit to Polish Culture. (2005), and Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland (Polonia Restituta) (2006).

Waldemar Maj
He graduated from the Technical University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Technical Physics and Applied Mathematics (1980). He received a PhD in Physics from the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1989) and an MBA from Harvard Business School in the USA (1996).
Member of the Supervisory Board of Ergis SA. He was Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PZU SA and Bank Gdański SA and a member of supervisory boards of Ciech SA, Bank BGŻ SA, Stock Spirits Group in Luxembourg and Unipetrol a.s. in Czech Republic, among others.
The founding partner of Metropolitan Capital Solutions, a company in the business of strategy consulting and corporate finance (since 2009). In previous years, Vice-President of the Management Board for Financial Affairs at PKN Orlen SA (2007/2008); Vice-President of the Management Board for Corporate and Treasury Banking at Bank BGŻ SA (2005-2007); Member and then President of the Management Board of DZ Bank Polska SA (2002-2005); Senior Associate at the US strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Warsaw (2000-2002); Senior Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation / World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. (1996-2000); advisor to the Minister of Finance, and President of the Management Board of the Foundation for Financial System Development (FRSF) (1991-1994). Between 1981 and 1991 assistant lecturer and then assistant professor at Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences; postdoctoral fellow at the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Actively involved in the democratic movement in Poland from 1976 until 1989; awarded Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland (Polonia Restituta). He implemented a pro bono project to erect Free Speech Memorial in Warsaw (2014). He takes part in marathons and triathlons and enjoys mountaineering and skiing.

Sławomir Rybicki
A graduate of the University of Gdańsk’s Faculty of Law and Administration. Already at the age of 17, he became engaged in anti-communist opposition in the coastal region; he was a member of the Young Poland Movement and participant of the August strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard. During the martial law, he was active in the Solidarity underground movement. A close associate of Lech Wałęsa. Member of the first Solidarity. In free Poland – the closest associate of Maciej Płażyński.
Between 2001 and 2012, a Member of Parliament of the Republic of Poland. From 2012 onwards Minister, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski, where he was responsible for contacts with the government, parliament and political parties. In 2013 he became Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland responsible for all domestic affairs falling under the remit of the President of the Republic of Poland. In the elections of 2015, he won a seat in the Senate representing the Civic Platform.

Programme Board

Stanisław Koziej
Stanisław Koziej was born in 1943 in Glinnik near Lublin. He graduated from the Mechanised Forces Military Academy in Wrocław (1965) and Academy of the General Staff of the Polish Army in Warsaw (1973). He also completed several courses abroad, including Military Academy of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces (Moscow, 1973), NATO-SHAPE (Oberamergau, 1999), the National Institute for Defence Studies (Paris, 2000) and NATO Defence Academy (Rome, 2001).
Stanisław Koziej specialises in the national and international security (including defence) policy and strategy, as well as strategic security management. This is also the subject matter of lectures he gives at the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University, University of Lodz, Warsaw School of Economics and the Polish Institute of International Affairs (former Academy of Diplomacy).
He was the co-originator of the Polish defence doctrine in the context of strategic autonomy of the 1990s, and the main author of the Defence Plan of the Republic of Poland. Organiser and coordinator of the national strategic planning and of the national defence reform. Initiator and co-originator of the Advanced Defence Courses for Members of Parliament and senior civil servants. The main author of Polish National Defence Strategy in the Context of NATO Membership, and of the Political and Strategic Defence Directive.
He is the author of more than 1000 publications in the field of military, defence, national and international security as well as security management and crisis management, including several textbooks and books.
Career summary:
He served as the commander and a staff officer in:
– 49th Mechanised Regiment in Walcz,
– 15th Mechanised Division in Olsztyn,
– Silesian Military Region Command in Wroclaw,
– General Staff of the Polish Army.
For many years he was a member of the teaching and research staff at the Academy of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces as the Head of Doctoral Studies, deputy chair and chair, as well as dean of department.
1993-1994 – deputy department director in the National Security Bureau (while holding this position he was promoted to general by President Lech Walesa in 1993)
1994-2001 – Deputy Director and later Director of the Department of Defence System in the Ministry of National Defence
1996-1997 – head of Polish mission to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Committee (NNSC) in Korea (Panmunjom)
1997-1998 – Deputy Head of Mission to OSCE in Georgia (Tbilisi)
1999-2001 – first Polish representative to NATO on nuclear policy and strategy
2005-2006 – Undersecretary of the State in the Ministry of National Defence
2007 – advisor to the Ombudsman
2008 – advisor to the Minister of National Defence
13 April 2010 – appointed Head of the National Security Bureau by the Speaker of the Sejm Bronisław Komorowski, Acting President of the Republic of Poland.

Roman Kuźniar
Born in 1953. In 1977, he graduated from the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Journalism and Political Science. He received a PhD in 1981 and the degree of habilitated doctor of political science in 1990. In 2001, he became Professor of Humanities. Since 2008, he has been a full professor at the University of Warsaw.
In 1977, he became a PhD student and subsequently a research staff member at the Institute of International Relations of the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Journalism and Political Science. In 1992, he became the head of Department of Strategic Studies at the University of Warsaw’s Institute of International Relations. He gives lectures on international political relations, human rights, strategic studies and Polish foreign and security policy. He is a member of the Committee on Political Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Between 1995 and 2002, he was a member of the Polish delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. He is an author and editor of numerous publications in the area of international political relations, strategic studies, foreign policy of the Republic of Poland, international security, and human rights. In 1995, he initiated the publication of Strategic Yearbook of which he is editor-in-chief.
In 1990, he began his parallel career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The positions he held include: director of the Department for Planning and Analysis (1992-1994), a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations in Geneva (1994-1998), an employee (1998-2002) and Director (2000-2002) of the Department for Strategy and Foreign Policy Planning (he resigned due to his opposition to the war in Iraq). Between 2003 and 2005, he was the Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Academy of Diplomacy.
On 1 June 2005, he became the Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (he was dismissed in February 2007 because of differences on the key issues of Poland’s foreign policy). On 1 December 2007, he became an advisor to the Minister of National Defence, Bogdan Klich.
On 1 October 2010, he became an advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland.

Tomasz Nałęcz
He was born in 1949 in Gołymin, in the Ciechanów county. He studied history at the University of Warsaw, where he was hired as an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of History directly after graduation. He has been working there ever since: in 1977, he became doctor, in 1988 – habilitated doctor and in 1991 professor of the University of Warsaw.
Between 1970 and 1990, he was a member of the Polish United Workers’ Party. In 1980, he joined the Solidarity Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union but he did not continue his activity there after the introduction of the martial law. In 1989, he was one of the organisers of the 8th July Movement, which worked towards the dissolution of the Polish United Workers’ Party and the formation of a new social-democratic party. In 1990, he was one of the founders and the vice-chairman of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. He left the party in 1991 after the affair of the Moscow loan, unbeknown to him before, came to light. Between 1990 and 1994, he was a Warsaw-Mokotów borough councillor.
In 1992, he was among the founders of the Labour Union. From 1993 to 1997, he was an MP representing the Labour Union at the Sejm. In 2001, he won a seat at the Sejm as a joint candidate of the Democratic Left Alliance and Labour Union. Between 2001 and 2005, he was the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm. From 2003 to 2004, he was vice-chairman of the Investigation Committee of the Sejm into the Rywin affair. In 2004, he co-founded the Social Democracy of Poland.
In autumn 2005, he withdrew from politics. He returned to the University of Warsaw and became professor of the Pultusk Academy of Humanities.
As a historian, he specialises in the period of the Polish struggle for independence and the history of the Polish Second Republic. His most important publications include: Polska Organizacja Wojskowa 1914-1918 [The Polish Military Organization 1914-1918] (1984); Józef Piłsudski – legendy i fakty [Józef Piłsudski – Legends and Facts] (1986) in cooperation with his wife, Daria Nałęcz. The biography was also published in Russian, Lithuanian and Croatian; Spór o kształt demokracji i parlamentaryzmu w Polsce w latach 1921-1926 [The Dispute on the Shape of Democracy and Parliamentary System in Poland between 1921 and 1926] (1994); Historia XX wieku [History of the 20th century] (2000). Together with the most distinguished Polish historians (Henryk Samsonowicz, Janusz Tazbir, Andrzej Paczkowski, Andrzej Friszke and Andrzej Chwalba), he is the co-author of synthetic works on the Polish history that have had many reprints: Polska. Dzieje państwa i narodu [Poland. History of the State and Nation] and Polska na przestrzeni wieków [Poland throughout the Ages].

Antoni Podolski
Born in 1964 in Warsaw, in 1990 he graduated from the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of History. He studied at the School of Social Sciences of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In the nineties, he served as an officer of the State Protection Office in the operational and intelligence units. He dealt mainly with the issues of external security and energy security, he complited his service as the head of the analysis and information unit.
In the years 1996-1999 he was the Deputy Secretary and then the Secretary of the Foreign Program of the Polish Radio (Radio Polonia).
In the years 1997-1999, he was a scholarship holder of the NATO Information Bureau in the field of research on the democratic oversight and control of secret services.
In the years 1998-99 he was an permanent advisor of the Parliamentary Committee of Secret Services.
In the years 1999-2001 he was the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Interior and Administration responsible, inter alia, for the issues of migration, border protection, cross-border cooperation and European integration, coordination of the exchange of criminal information and preparation for the Schengen Information System, crisis management and rescue system.
He supervised the State Fire Service, Border Guard, the Government Protection Bureau and the liquidation of the Internal Military Units.
Co-chairman of the Polish-Lithuanian, Polish-Belarusian, Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Russian commission for cross-border cooperation.
In the years 2002-2004 advisor to the Board of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for European affairs.
In 2004-2008, Policy Director of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw; Coordinator of many projects and conferences and author of analyzes in the field of European and energy security.
In the years 2008-2009 again the Undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Interior and Administration and Government Plenipotentiary for the Establishment, and then Director of the Government Center for Security; member of the Government Team for Energy Security; Secretary of the Government Crisis Management Team; co-author of the amendment to the law on crisis management, creator of the critical infrastructure protection system.
In the years 2010-2015, Member of the Consultative Council of the Central Training Center of the Internal Security Agency, co- editor of the Internal Security Review of the Internal Security Agency.
In the years 2010-2012, he was a member of the Advisory and Consultation Board of the Strategic Review of National Security, nominated by the President Bronisław Komorowski.
In the years 2010-2014, he was an advisor to the CEO of Gaz System S.A., dealt mainly with the security of critical infrastructure and the security of the future LNG Terminal in Świnoujście;
In the years 2014-2015 he was a Deputy CEO of Polskie LNG SA;
In the second half of 2015 he was an advisor to the Minister Coordinator of Secret Services in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister;
Since 2016 he has been an independent strategic advisor and national security analyst, publicist,
Since 2019 he been an associate of the Bronisław Komorowski Institute.

Irena Wóycicka
Irena Wóycicka was born in Warsaw in 1950. She graduated from the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Economics. She was an opposition activist in the People’s Republic of Poland, and took part in the efforts to help the workers of the Ursus factory subjected to repressions following the events of 1976. A co-founder and editor of the independent Robotnik biweekly, collaborator of the Workers’ Defence Committee (Komitet Obrony Robotników), and a Solidarity expert. She took part in the Round Table Talks as part of the economic and social policy team. From 1989 to 1990, she was an advisor to the then Minister of Labour, Jacek Kuroń. From 1991 to 1994, she was the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy.
In 1997, she began her work at the Gdańsk Institute for Market Economics, where she was the head of social research. She dealt with the issues of poverty and social exclusion, women’s professional and family activities including the difficulties of combining work with household duties, local social policy and social insurance reforms, etc. From 1998 to 2001, she was an advisor to the then Minister of Labour, a member of the Supervisory Board of Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) in addition to being an expert for the International Labour Organisation and for the European Commission. She was a member of Democratic Union and afterwards she joined Freedom Union.
By decision of the President of the Republic of Poland of 14 October 2010 she was appointed the Undersecretary of State for Social Affairs in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
On 2 September 2013, she was appointed Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.