Poland's UN envoy Krzysztof Szczerski quits post early with Sikorski's approval

A request approved by the minister

On Monday, 2 November 2026, the foreign ministry said that Krzysztof Szczerski, Poland's permanent representative to the United Nations, had asked Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski to shorten his diplomatic mission. Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór announced the decision on X and said the request had been granted, with Szczerski due to finish before the end of November 2026. Szczerski has not publicly explained his decision or commented on his reasons, so the account of the request comes entirely from the ministry. Wewiór's statement opened with a short sentence:

“Minister Sikorski agreed to the request.”

Ambassadors from the former presidential circle

Szczerski took up the UN post in 2021. His earlier career included spells as an MP, deputy under-secretary of state at the Committee for European Integration, secretary of state and head of the cabinet in the Chancellery of the President, and head of the Bureau of International Policy. Oko.press places him among a group of ambassadors, mostly former aides to Andrzej Duda, who were appointed under the Law and Justice government and kept in their posts after the 2023 parliamentary elections brought a change of power. According to the same outlet, the arrangement was that the president would not obstruct Radosław Sikorski's appointments of new ambassadors in return for keeping his people in place, a deal it says Duda and Karol Nawrocki both repeatedly violated.

Szczerski is the third such exit. Jakub Kumoch, a former minister in Duda's chancellery, left the post in Beijing, and Paweł Soloch, formerly head of the National Security Bureau, left the post in Bucharest. Both men linked their decisions to the conflict over the Constitutional Tribunal, and Kumoch announced his on X before the ministry had issued any statement.

Reactions and next steps

Sikorski commented sourly on the way the resignations were announced, saying:

“I take note of the unprofessional ending of your mission.”

Presidential minister Marcin Przydacz said the context was obvious and called Szczerski the third senior diplomat unwilling to lend his name to what he described as the lawlessness of Donald Tusk's government. The ministry has tied Szczerski's departure only to the end of November 2026, and the reports do not say who will replace him at the UN. Oko.press has described the earlier arrangement over new ambassador appointments as repeatedly broken, so the staffing of other posts remains an open question.