Bogdan Adam Klich (born on 8 May 1960 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) is a Polish politician, diplomat, and former minister of national defence of Poland. He currently serves as Poland Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to the United States. Until November 16, 2007, he was a

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

and Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship with the

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

, part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

. Klich served as a senator between 2011 and 2024. Since 2002, Klich has been a lecturer at the Department of European Studies at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. Lecturer at the Cracow University of Economics since the academic year 2013/2014. The author of numerous publications concerning foreign policy and international security.

Education

* 1986: Physician, Kraków Medical Academy * 1987: Master's in the History of Art, Jagiellonian University (UJ) * 1991–1995: Doctoral studies, Department of Historical Philosophy

Political career

Career in national politics

* since 1997: President of the Institute of Strategic Studies * 2001–2004: Member of Parliament of the Republic of Poland, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, member of the Committee on National Defence * 1989–1999: Advisor to the Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Poland with the European Union * 1999–2000:

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Minister for National

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

in the Republic of Poland * 2003–2004: Observer to the EP * 2001–2004 2012–current: Polish representative and member of the Policy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

* 2011–2015: Member of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Vice-Chairman of the Foreign and Euroepan Union Affairs Committee, Member of the Committee on National Defence, * 2015–2019: Member of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Member of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee, Member of the Committee on National Defence; Minority Leader of Polish Senate * 2019–2023: Member of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Chairman of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee, Member of the on Legislative * 2023–2024: Member of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs * since 2024: Poland Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to the United States.

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2007

A member of the

European People's Party group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group or simply EPP) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent ME ...

, Kilch served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Minister of Defence, 2007–2011

From 2007 until 2011, Klich served as Minister for National Defence in the Republic of Poland, in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

. During his time in office, Klich implemented Tusk's campaign pledge to withdraw Poland's troops from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. By October 2008, he marked the end of his country's five-year partnership with U.S. forces in Iraq; Poland had been the only country other than the United States and Britain to command a full division of foreign troops in Iraq, and contingents from several other countries initially served under Polish command in a broad area south of Baghdad. Also under Klich's leadership, Poland and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

signed a

status of forces agreement A status of forces agreement (SOFA) is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security ...

(SOFA) that paved the way for the stationing of U.S. troops on Polish territory. Three months after the United States announced a reformulated missile-defense plan for Poland in 2010, Klich announced that an undisclosed number of American

MIM-104 Patriot The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile interceptor missile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives it ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

s would be deployed in the vicinity of

Morąg Morąg (; , ) is a town in northern Poland in Ostróda County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Gmina Morąg (commune). Geography The town is situated in the western uplands of the historic Prussia region. Its centre is loc ...

, in northern Poland, just 35 miles from the Russian enclave of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

. On 12 May 2011, Klich announced that Poland would lead a new EU Battlegroup of the

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four or the V4) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, e ...

. In July 2011, Klich resigned after an official investigation into the

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing List of casualties of the Smolensk air disaster, all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president ...

which killed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

and all 95 others on board, concluded that mistakes by the military pilots were the primary cause of the disaster. Prime Minister Tusk clarified that he did not hold Klich responsible for the crash, saying merely that the investigation had recommended swift and wholesale changes which could only be implemented by a new minister, Klich's deputy,

Tomasz Siemoniak Tomasz Siemoniak ( born 2 July 1967) is a Polish politician of the Civic Platform (PO) who is serving as Ministry of the Interior and Administration in the government of Donald Tusk since 2024. he also served as Minister of National Defence ...

Member of the Senate, 2011–2024

Klich has been a member of the

Senate of Poland The Senate () is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent ...

since the 2011 national elections and is currently the minority leader. He also serves as deputy chairman of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Affairs and as member of the Defence Committee. In addition to his role in parliament, Klich has again been serving as a member of the Polish delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

since 2012. He serves on the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and on the Sub-Committee on the Middle East and the Arab World; in this capacity, he is also the Assembly's rapporteur on

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Since 2015, Klich has been serving as a member of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's High-level Group of Personalities on Defence Research, chaired by Elżbieta Bieńkowska.Simon Taylor (30 March 2015)
High-level group of personalities on defence research
''

European Voice ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''. In 2015, he successfully ran for re-election (he received 71,852 vote

In the Senate of the 9th term, he was the chairman of the group of senators of the Civic Platform parliamentary club. In the 2019 elections, he became a senator again, receiving 123,080 vot

After the elections, he became the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the European Uni

In the 2023 elections, he also won a senatorial seat, receiving 184,334 vot

In the 11th term, he became the chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee 8 Appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro

Other activities

* Member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London *

Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the Centre for European Studies at the Jagiellonian University

Decorations

* 2010 – Medal "Milito Pro Christo" * 2010 –

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

* 2014 –

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (, also the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. (The Latin name ''Terra Mariana'' ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

References

Publications

* * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klich, Bogdan 1960 births Living people Politicians from Kraków Ministers of national defence of Poland Jagiellonian University alumni Lesser Poland Voivodeship Civic Platform MEPs MEPs for Poland 2004 MEPs for Poland 2004–2009 Members of the Senate of Poland 2011–2015 Members of the Senate of Poland 2015–2019 Members of the Senate of Poland 2019–2023 category:Members of the Senate of Poland 2023–2027 Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class