DONALD TUSK, PRO-EUROPEAN AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, NEW PRIME MINISTER OF POLAND
The Polish Parliament has elected this December 12, 2023 Donald Tusk, leader of the centrist party, as Prime Minister. He will be in charge of forming a new pro-EU government after eight years of a conservative national government and multiple clashes with Brussels.
Tusk’s election comes after the previous government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lost a vote of confidence in Parliament in the same session of the Polish Parliament.
His defeat was largely expected after his efforts to form a conservative-led coalition failed to come to fruition. His Catholic, conservative and protectionist Law and Justice (PiS) party won the first place in number of seats in the October elections, but fell short of an absolute majority. This situation favored Tusk to become the new Prime Minister.
The transition of power comes two months after Poles went to the polls in large numbers in national elections. Tusk opted to keep his political allies in office for as long as possible.
The change of power in Poland may have important consequences for the 38 million citizens of the Central European nation, where there was a record turnout to replace a government that had staged strong clashes with the EU institutions for its legislative reforms considered by them as contrary to the EU Treaties on fundamental freedoms and rights.
Supporters of Law and Justice fear that the new leadership will promote more liberal policies that conflict with many of its conservative views on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
The change will also have important implications for Ukraine and the EU. Tusk, a former president of the EU’s European Council, is expected to improve Warsaw’s relations with Brussels. His leadership in the EU’s fifth-largest member by population will boost centrist and pro-EU forces at a time when Euroskeptics, such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, have gained strength ahead of crucial European elections next June 2024.
This news was originally published in Aquí Europa.
