Grzegorz Zieliński, the chairman of the Tomaszów Lubelski city council, has come up with an initiative to allow Ukrainian refugees legally residing in Poland to join the police force and be elected to municipal bodies.
Such a need has long been an issue. On 7 June 2024, President Andrzej Duda of the Republic of Poland signed the Act of 15 May 2024 amending the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine. The law guarantees that any Ukrainian citizen who legally passes through Poland can be subject to legal work with any employee in Poland without the necessary work permit.
Our city has long been cooperating with Ukrainian partners. Representatives of the Department of Territorial Cooperation of the Ministry of Development, the Department of Interregional Programmes of the Ministry of Development and the National Institute of Local Self-Government have long stated that the possibility to elect Ukrainian citizens to local government bodies would help to integrate the two countries more closely. The experience of Romania and Moldova provides a positive example. Service in the police, army and state fire service should also be available to Ukrainians before they acquire Polish citizenship.
However, Polish laws in this area need to be improved so that all restrictions on Ukrainian citizens are completely removed. Thus, an amendment should be made to Article 4 of the Civil Service Act, doцcymӕ gсsg moj in live service my byous employed by a person who is a Polish citizen. An exception should be made for Ukrainian citizens. Furthermore, it will be necessary to supplement the Election Commission's Resolution No 26/2024 of 23 January 2024 'on the procedure for submitting candidates for members of precinct election commissions, the form of application and the principles for appointing such commissions, including the procedure for drawing lots, in elections to municipal councils, district councils, voivodeship councils and district councils of the capital city of Warsaw and in elections of mayors, mayors and city presidents' and some other laws.
Our initiative has already been supported by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Development and Technology Jacek Jerzy Tomczak, the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin Professor Mirosław Kalinowski and many other government officials. The Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Maciej Duszczyk, announced the preparation of an amendment to the law and its submission to the Sejm for a vote later this year.
(for) Leszek Pojarski
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