Warsaw - The head of security for Polish President Lech
Kaczynski was fired after shooting rang out on Sunday near the Polish
and Georgian presidential motorcade near the South Ossetian border,
local media reported on Thursday.
Colonel Krzysztof Olszowiec was fired amid allegations he had
failed to provide adequate security during the incident, Polish media
reported.
The government issued a report on Thursday saying the incident was
not an attack on the Georgian and Polish presidents, and Poland's
Government Protection Bureau (BOR) was not given adequate time to
arrange security for the visit, reported the Polish Press Agency.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the report showed 'very many
obvious' steps were not taken to ensure the president's safety, and
warned that officials should not 'make work harder' for BOR.
No one was injured in Sunday's shooting, but the incident raised
tensions between Russia and the European Union, whose eastern member
states favour suspending the bloc's relations with Russia over its
conflict with Georgia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the shots were
staged as 'yet another provocation' by Georgia.
Kaczynski, a euro-skeptic politician who is staunchly pro-Georgia,
has said he heard Russian being spoken when the shots were fired.
Kaczynski added that he did not believe the incident had been
orchestrated by Georgia to make Russia look bad.
The Georgian government said on Sunday that Russian patrol
personnel fired shots at the motorcade.
Kaczynski said he was 'deeply uneasy' about Olszowiec's dismissal,
and said he did not want BOR's protection during his upcoming trip to
Asia.
USA
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