October 06, 2017 - 7:05 AM
WARSAW, Poland - Poland's Foreign Ministry says the nation's permanent representative to the European Union has stepped down and the resignation has been accepted.
Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Friday that Jaroslaw Starzyk, 54, had submitted his resignation for "personal reasons." The ministry later said the resignation was accepted, giving no other details.
But the Onet.pl news portal said documents suggesting that Starzyk could have collaborated with communist-era intelligence were found in archives. The portal said Starzyk had concealed the fact of collaboration.
Under Polish law, officials to state offices must declare any communist-era collaboration and anyone caught lying is subject to being dismissed.
Starzyk was appointed in February 2016 by the ruling Law and Justice party, which has vowed to eliminate vestiges of communism from state bodies.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017