Tomasz Siemoniak

Tomasz Siemoniak (born 2 July 1967) is a Polish politician, Minister of National Defence from 2 August 2011 to 16 November 2015 and Deputy Prime Minister of Poland from 22 September 2014 to 16 November 2015.

Tomasz Siemoniak
Deputy Prime Minister of Poland
In office 22 September 2014 – 16 November 2015
President	Bronisław Komorowski Andrzej Duda
Prime Minister	Ewa Kopacz
Alongside	Janusz Piechociński
Preceded by	Elżbieta Bieńkowska
Succeeded by	Piotr Gliński Jarosław Gowin Mateusz Morawiecki
Minister of National Defence
In office 2 August 2011 – 16 November 2015
President	Bronisław Komorowski Andrzej Duda
Prime Minister	Donald Tusk Ewa Kopacz
Preceded by	Bogdan Klich
Succeeded by	Antoni Macierewicz
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-02) 2 July 1967 Wałbrzych, Poland
Political party	Civic Platform
Alma mater	Warsaw School of Economics

Tomasz Siemoniak with Michael Fallon in 2014

Early life and education

Siemoniak was born on 2 July 1967.[1] He graduated from the Foreign Trade Faculty of the Warsaw School of Economics.[1] During his university education, he was the head of the Independent Students’ Association (NZS).[1]

Career

Siemoniak began his career at the Polish public broadcasting unit, Telewizja Polska, as the director of the office for field branches and general director of Channel 1. His tenure lasted from 1994 to 1996.[1] He served as the director of the press and information office at the ministry of national defence from 1998 to 2000. During this period he was also a member of the Warsaw city centre district council and deputy chairman of the culture committee of the council. He was appointed deputy chairman of the supervisory board of the Polish News Agency in 1998, and his tenure ended in 2002.[1] From December 2000 to July 2002 he was also deputy mayor of Warsaw. He was named as a board member of Polskie Radio SA (public radio company) in 2002 and served there until 2006.[2] Then he was appointed deputy marshal in the marshal’s office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (November 2006 - November 2007).[3] From November 2007 to August 2011, he held the post of secretary of state in the ministry of interior and administration. Siemoniak is a member of the Civic Platform headed by Donald Tusk.[4]

On 2 August 2011, he was appointed minister of national defense in the cabinet led by the prime minister Donald Tusk.[2] Siemoniak replaced Bogdan Klich in the post.[5] After the elections in October 2011, Tusk reformed the cabinet and Siemoniak retained his post as defense minister.[4]

Activities and views

In August 2012, Siemoniak declared that Poland is planning to form its own missile defense system with an estimated budget of between $3 billion and $6 billion.[6]

References

1. "Minister of National Defence". Ministry of National Defence. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
2. "Poland Names New Defense Minister". Defense News. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
3. "Composition of Government". KPRM. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
4. Gardner, Andrew (19 November 2011). "Poland's new government wins support". European Voice. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
5. "New minister of national defence appointed". Polish Premier. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
6. Benites, Jorge (12 August 2012). "Poland wants to build missile defense system with France, Germany". Atlantic Council. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Bogdan Klich	Minister of National Defence 2011–2015	Succeeded by Antoni Macierewicz
Preceded by Elżbieta Bieńkowska	Deputy Prime Minister of Poland 2014–2015	Succeeded by Piotr Gliński