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Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz

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Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz
Sienkiewicz in 2024
Minister of Culture and National Heritage
In office
13 December 2023 – 13 May 2024
Prime MinisterDonald Tusk
Preceded byDominika Chorosińska
Succeeded byHanna Wróblewska
Minister of the Interior
In office
25 February 2013 – 22 September 2014
Prime MinisterDonald Tusk
Preceded byJacek Cichocki
Succeeded byTeresa Piotrowska
Personal details
Born (1961-07-29) 29 July 1961 (age 63)
Kielce, Poland
Political partyCivic Platform
Children4
Alma materJagiellonian University

Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz (born 29 July 1961) is a Polish politician who served as Minister of the Interior in the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk from 25 February 2013 to 22 September 2014. From 13 December 2023 to 13 May 2024, Sienkiewicz has served as Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the third cabinet of Donald Tusk.

Early life and education

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Sienkiewicz was born on 29 July 1961.[1] He is the great-grandson of Nobel Prize–winning author Henryk Sienkiewicz.[2] Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz is a graduate of Jagiellonian University.[3]

Early life and career

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Sienkiewicz participated in Cracow's opposition movement in the early 1980s.[3] In 1990, he co-established the Office for State Protection and the Centre for Eastern Studies, a think-tank organization.[1][4] He served as the deputy director of the center for eight years, specifically from 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2001.

In the early 2000s, Sienkiewicz left the state administration and began to work in private sector, founding a firm on the investment risk and analysis of the competitive environment (ASBS Othago, then "Sienkiewicz and Partners").[3]

Political career

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Minister of the Interior, 2013–2014

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On 25 February 2013, Sienkiewicz was appointed by President Bronisław Komorowski as Minister of the Interior to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.[5][6] Sienkiewicz replaced Jacek Cichocki in the post.[2]

Sienkiewicz was one of the politicians at the centre of the tape scandal that occurred in Poland in the summer of 2014 when many of the key figures of the Polish political scene were covertly recorded in private.[7] He was recorded during a conversation with Marek Belka, governor of the National Bank of Poland, during which they discussed in a Warsaw restaurant a possible change of the Minister of Finance;[8] Belka and Sienkiewicz later said their words were taken out of context and they denied doing anything illegal.[9] In July 2014, the Polish parliament rejected a motion of no confidence in Sienkiewicz.[10] However, the district prosecutor's office in Warsaw launched an investigation in August 2014 to establish if Belka and Sienkiewicz had exceeded their authority.[11]

Sienkiewicz resigned along with the entire government following the election of Donald Tusk as the new President of the European Council and did not enter the new cabinet headed by Ewa Kopacz.

Parliamentary career

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In the 2019 elections, Sienkiewicz won a seat in the Ninth Sejm, having run as the leader of the Civic Platform list in the Kielce district and receiving 35,009 votes. After the elections, he joined the PO and in January 2020 filed his candidacy for party chairman. As a result of the vote in the same month, he came in last place among the four candidates.

Sienkiewicz was again elected to the Parliament in the general election on 15 October 2023.[12]

Minister of Culture and National Heritage, 2023–2024

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He was appointed Minister of Culture and National Heritage on 13 December 2023 to the cabinet led by Donald Tusk.[13] On 19 December 2023, he illegally dismissed the directors of TVP, Polish Radio and PAP, leading to the 2023 takeover of TVP.[14]

The move was met with criticism and accusations of illegality by the dismissed management and the opposition Law and Justice party, causing a parliamentary intervention in the TVP headquarters.[15][16]

On 25 April 2024, Sienkiewicz resigned from the ministry and announced his candidacy for the European Parliament in elections to be held on 9 June, waiting for the president to have accepted his resignation.[17]

Personal life

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Sienkiewicz is married and has four children.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Prime Minister: Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz is the new Head of the Ministry of Interior". Premier. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b "PM takes on conservative wing". New Poland Express. 22 February 2013. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz nominated for the head of MI". Ministry of Interior. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original (News release) on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Rostowski appointed deputy prime minister". Warsaw Business Journal. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  5. ^ "New interior minister appointed". The Warsaw Voice. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Polish PM announces new head of PM's chancellery, interior minister". China (Xinhua). 21 February 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  7. ^ ""Wprost" ujawnia pierwszą z kompromitujących taśm". Wprost. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Calls for government to resign amid finance tape scandal". The News. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  9. ^ Marcin Goettig; Pawel Sobczak (19 June 2014). "Polish PM under fire in leaked tape row, hints at snap election". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  10. ^ Anna Koper (11 July 2014). "Polish parliament rejects no confidence motion in interior minister". Reuters.
  11. ^ Marcin Goettig (16 September 2014). "Poland drops probe into central bank chief's leaked conversation". Reuters.
  12. ^ "Sienkiewicz: jeśli nie rozliczymy tego rodzaju władzy, to znaczy, że w Polsce wszystko wolno". TVN24 (in Polish). 18 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  13. ^ Daniel Tilles (13 December 2023). "Who's who in Poland's new government". Notes From Poland. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Sasin: trwa interwencja poselska zwiazana z siłowym wdarciem się osób nieuprawnionych do siedziby TVP". www.pap.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Posłowie PiS znów w siedzibie TVP. "Taka jest dyspozycja"". TVN24 (in Polish). 20 December 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Sasin: trwa interwencja poselska zwiazana z siłowym wdarciem się osób nieuprawnionych do siedziby TVP". www.pap.pl. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Poland's Culture Minister resigns position to run for EU Parliament". TVP World. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
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Government offices
Preceded by Interior Minister of Poland
2013 – 2014 		Succeeded by
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