Defence minister quits following Smolensk report
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
30.07.2011 08:54
Poland's prime minister said that he has accepted the resignation of defense minister Bogdan Klich, submitted Thursday, in the wake of the report into the causes of the Smolensk air disaster.
Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed that Mr Klich (pictured) is not responsible for the tragedy that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others on 10 April 2010 in western Russia but that he has came to the conclusion that it would be inappropriate if Klich continued in his post by the time the recommendations contained in the report will have been implemented.
These include an overhaul of the pilots’ training methods and a need to apply to tougher security measures for VIPs travelling abroad.
The report on the Smolensk air crash says that the pilots were flying too low and too fast, and were not sufficiently prepared for the flight. The crew was put together the day before the flight and only met very briefly to prepare for the flight while the passengers were already boarding.
The report also lists several shortcoming on the Russian side. One of them relates to the inadequate lighting at the Smolensk airport.
Klich remains a candidate of the Civic Platform party in the forthcoming elections to the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament. (mk/pg)