EXPERTS DISCUSSED HOW TO ACT IN EVENT OF WAR THREAT

As the ancient Romans used to say, if you want peace, prepare for war. This idea guided both the participants and organisers of the expert seminar entitled “Ensuring the Continuity of State Functioning in Conditions of War Threat and State of War,” held on April 9, 2026, in a fully packed auditorium of the Faculty of Law and Economics at Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa.

Among the attendees were, among others: the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Myronovych Bodnar; prof. Igor Dushutin, President of the Administrative Cassation Court of the Supreme Court of Ukraine; prof. Mariusz Popławski, Rector of the University of Białystok; General Mieczysław Bieniek; General Tadeusz Budzik; as well as representatives of the Border Guard (from several cities in Poland), the State Fire Service, and other institutions responsible for security.

“We met to discuss broadly understood stability of state and social systems. It was an interdisciplinary debate during which we brought together experts from many fields related to security in the context of potential threats,” said prof. Marcin Sosnowski, Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Internationalisation at Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa.

The high importance of the meeting was emphasised by Ambassador Vasyl Myronovych Bodnar, who addressed security issues, outlined various methods of safeguarding that can be implemented in the event of a conflict, and also referred to Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, strongly highlighting the role of Poland and its society in the support that has been provided to Ukraine for years.

“I wanted to share experiences resulting from the conflict we are currently going through,” explained Ambassador Bodnar. “This difficult situation forces us to take actions that enable the functioning of the state and society. At the same time, we must maintain the front line. The state, for its part, must ensure the basic institutions necessary for efficient functioning - from the judiciary to various public services.”

The initiator and one of the organisers of the seminar was dr Krzysztof Winiarski, a long-time associate of the University and a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw.

“Initially, we assumed it would be a seminar,” explained dr Winiarski. “We wanted to discuss and raise awareness among participants about the problems we may face in an extreme future. Unfortunately, observing the situation in Europe, we must consider various scenarios across different areas of state functioning: legislative, executive, and judicial powers in conditions of war threat and actual war. Some examples come from the COVID period, when we had to reform the way we operated. Now, for instance, Ukraine shows us how a country can function under the extreme conditions of a full-scale war, where it is necessary to balance the public interest with individual rights.”

A detailed program of the proceedings, along with information about the speakers and the topics of their presentations, is available in the agenda.

The seminar was organised by:
- the Department of Constitutional and Comparative Law, headed by Acting Rector of JDU, prof. Bogusław Przywora,
- prof. Marcin Sosnowski, Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Internationalisation,
- dr Krzysztof Winiarski, Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court,
- prof. Anna Zasuń, Vice-Dean for General Affairs of the Faculty of Social Sciences,
- prof. Karolina Grabowska, Vice-Dean for Education and Student Affairs of the Faculty of Science and Technology,
- prof. Piotr Herbowski, Department of Judicial Law.

Media coverage of the event:
Radio Fiat
Czestochowskie24.pl
Radio Katowice
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Częstochowska