Commission member Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski said on Monday the commission's chair would be Sławomir Cenckiewicz (pictured), head of the Military Historical Bureau.
Marian Zubrzycki/PAP

With its head already appointed, the commission established to investigate past Russian influence in Polish affairs will hold its first sitting prior to the general election on October 15, a commission member has said.

Commission member Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski said on Monday the commission’s chair would be Sławomir Cenckiewicz, head of the Military Historical Bureau.

Earlier in the day, the Senate Information Centre announced that Elżbieta Witek, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, had distributed formal notices appointing members of the commission, which will look into the nature and extent of alleged Russian influence during the years 2007-2022.

Żurawski vel Grajewski, head of the presidential Security and Defence Council, told journalists on Monday that “with all certainty” the commission would convene before October’s election, going on to explain that at that time nobody would be questioned but that topics, tasks and matters to be clarified would be established as well as a list of people to be questioned.

He also dismissed criticisms that the commission and the powers of its members were unconstitutional. The Sejm appointed nine commission members at its final sitting of the current parliamentary term, on August 30. All were proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party with the opposition declining to put forward candidates or take part in voting on the matter.

The idea to establish the commission has met with a backlash both in Poland and abroad owing to fears that it could be used as a political tool to target opposition politicians who were once in office, in particular Donald Tusk, a former prime minister who is now leader of the main opposition party.