By a decision dated April 23, 2026, President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki dismissed Sławomir Cenckiewicz, DSc, from the position of Secretary of State at the National Security Bureau – Head of the National Security Bureau. At the same time, by a decision dated April 23, 2026, the President of the Republic of Poland entrusted the leadership of the National Security Bureau to Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Andrzej Kowalski, in the rank of Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau, until the appointment of the Head of the National Security Bureau.
Photo: Przemysław Keler, KPRP
Brig. Gen. Andrzej Kowalski is an intelligence officer, educator, and columnist. Since August 7, 2025, he has served as Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau. In 2023, he was appointed by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland as a member of the State Commission for the Investigation of Russian Influence on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland in 2007–2022. He previously served as Head of the Military Intelligence Service (SWW) from 2015 to 2020.
In 2006, he took part in establishing the new military counterintelligence service created in place of the dissolved Military Information Services (WSI), and in 2007 he served as acting Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service. From 1994, he served in the counterintelligence structures of the Office for State Protection (UOP) and the Internal Security Agency (ABW). He completed numerous specialist courses in counterintelligence work and repeatedly conducted training for new officers. He inspired and supervised work on modern technical solutions in the special services. A supporter of high-quality firearms training for officers, he organized and participated in shooting competitions. He is the author of various training materials.
He is a graduate of the Faculty of Education at the University of Warsaw, where he obtained his master’s degree after completing an individual course of study. In accordance with a program approved by the authorities of the Faculty of Education, he also took classes at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. He has been particularly interested in the role of dialogue in education. This issue was also the subject of postgraduate studies he completed in 2006 at the Przymierze Rodzin College in Warsaw. For several years, he taught part-time students. In 1986, he graduated from the Technical Secondary School within the Electronic Schools Complex on Gen. Zajączka Street in Warsaw, specializing in mathematical machines.
After his studies, he co-founded the School and Educational Center in Konstancin-Jeziorna, which operated as a pedagogical experiment. For many years he worked as an educator and teacher with young people from backgrounds at risk of crime. From 2011 to 2015, he was an educator at the Przymierze Rodzin Middle School in Warsaw. He co-organized more than 20 summer and winter trips for young people.
He is the author of several dozen articles on issues related to state security and the activities of special services. He has also discussed these topics many times on social media. He mainly published in the weekly Gazeta Polska, Gazeta Polska Codziennie, Nasz Dziennik, and Gość Niedzielny. He has written four books devoted to intelligence and counterintelligence work: Rosyjski Sztylet (2013), Kontra (2015), and Założycielska klęska GRU (2022). His most recent book, Zabity za prawdę (2024), concerns an intelligence operation by the Polish People’s Republic against Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki, who was poisoned in 1987 in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Since 1984, he has been a member of the Light-Life Movement, currently within the Domestic Church. He is also a member of the Crusade for the Liberation of Man. His decorations include the Gold Cross of Merit (2007).
Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Karol Nawrocki powierzył kierowanie Biurem Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego gen. bryg. rez. Andrzejowi Kowalskiemu.
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Postanowieniem z dnia 23 kwietnia 2026 r. Prezydent RP @NawrockiKn zwolnił dr. hab. Sławomira @Cenckiewicz ze stanowiska… pic.twitter.com/K6w4ILKNpH— Biuro Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego (@BBN_PL) April 24, 2026