Top Polish generals quit ahead of NATO military drill

Several top generals in Poland have resigned in a surprise move that rattled the new conservative government, which is already under fire for its controversial reforms, months ahead of a NATO military drill in the country.

“Five generals have submitted their resignations over the last few days,” said the spokesman for the general command of the Polish armed forces, Szczepan Gluszczak, in a televised interview on Friday with the local Polsat TV Channel.

Gluszczak, however, did not reveal the identity of the generals who have resigned, but local media say the Polish military’s Joint Chief of Staff Ireneusz Bartniak and senior commanders of armed forces are among them.

Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Bartosz Kownacki also slammed the resignations ahead of the NATO war games, dubbed Anaconda, slated for July. The Western military alliance will also hold a summit in the capital Warsaw at the same time.

NATO has increased its troops and military build-up in Poland and other Baltic nations in order to deter what it calls Russian threats. Moscow is bitterly opposed to the alliance’s expansion at its doorsteps.