The future head of government wants to bring his country closer to the European Union again and improve relations with Brussels. Poland will be a strong part of NATO and a strong ally of the USA and will achieve a leadership position in Europe, said Tusk in the House of Representatives (Sejm). Anyone who questions Poland’s place in the EU is damaging the country’s interests. An isolated Poland is exposed to the greatest risks.
After his speech, Tusk will ask for a vote of confidence – but this is considered a formality since his three-party alliance has the majority in parliament. He could then be sworn in as President Andrzej Duda’s new prime minister on Wednesday – and make an international appearance on Thursday as Poland’s representative at the EU summit in Brussels.
APA/AFP/Wojtek Radwanski Tusk announced that he would work for a better relationship with the EU
“Popcorn moment” for Polish parliament
The change of power in Poland has obviously increased interest in democracy in the country: in the past few days, a cinema in Warsaw showed the parliamentary sessions live, and interest in them was great. For Tuesday, the Kinoteka cinema even announced two halls in which Tusk’s government statement was shown.
Media like the BBC are talking about a “popcorn moment”: the Sejm’s YouTube channel has grown enormously in just a few weeks since the election – the parliament now has more fans than any other European parliament. After hundreds of thousands of viewers online, the phenomenon “Sejmflix” has recently become a success in the cinema, with the events of the last few days as the highlight.
APA/AFP/Wojtek Radwanski The crowds in a Warsaw cinema have been enormous in the past few days
The MDR also sees the style of the new Parliament President Szymon Holownia as responsible for the sudden success – the former journalist and presenter of a talent show switched to politics in 2020 and has given the parliamentary streams a lot of popularity since he took office at the beginning of November. “Ladies and gentlemen, stock up on popcorn, because I suspect that there will be a lot of action and a lot of excitement, but the bottom line is that a lot of good things will come out of it,” the German broadcaster quoted the president’s invitation to the meetings as saying to pursue.
Morawiecki lost confidence vote
The course for the change of power was set on Monday: the previous Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lost the vote of confidence, and shortly afterwards the parliamentarians nominated Tusk as his successor. After eight years of government by Morawiecki’s PiS party, which was sharply criticized by the EU, among other things, for undermining the judiciary and exerting enormous pressure on the media, Poland is now likely to move in a different direction.
Tusk was long-time head of government (2007-2014), president of the EU Council (2014-2019) and president of the conservative European People’s Party (2019-2022) and promised to “rebuild” Poland’s position in Europe. “If anyone can lead Poland back to the EU’s democratic path, it is Tusk,” a senior EU official told Reuters. “We trust in his leadership.”
PiS lacked coalition partners
In the parliamentary elections on October 15, three pro-European parties from the previous opposition, led by former EU Council President Tusk, won a clear majority of 248 of the total 460 seats in the Sejm. The PiS received a relative majority, but only 194 seats and has no coalition partner.
After the election, the PiS and Duda, who came from their ranks, delayed the handover of power as long as it was constitutionally possible. Duda first commissioned the previous Prime Minister Morawiecki to form a new government, which was in office for just two weeks.
2023-12-12 15:35:36
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