Tomasz Siemoniak was named Poland's new defence minister Tuesday after his predecessor resigned over a report on last year's plane crash that killed then-president Lech Kaczynski and 98 other officials, dpa reported.
The report said poor pilot training was partly to blame for the April 10, 2010 plane crash in Smolensk in Russia.
The new defence minister faces "hard decisions" that will demand "courage" in making the required reforms at the ministry, President Bronislaw Komorowski said. Siemoniak takes the helm as the ministry aims to implement the report's recommendations.
Siemoniak was previously the secretary of state at the Interior Ministry, and replaces Bogdan Klich.
Military leaders met Monday with the commission that had released the report to discuss changes that could be made to avoid such tragedies in the future.