In his government statement that morning, Tusk called for adherence to the values of democracy and the rule of law and announced good cooperation between his country and the EU. “What really shapes a community is the rule of law, the constitution, the rules of democracy, secure borders and a safe national territory – these are the things that we cannot argue about,” said the 66-year-old former EU Council President.
The Danziger was the Polish head of government from 2007 to 2014. Tusk now leads a coalition government made up of his liberal-conservative Citizens Coalition, the Christian-conservative Third Way and the left-wing Lewica alliance. The three-party alliance won a governing majority in the election on October 15, but the national-conservative PiS government delayed the transfer of power for a long time.
The PiS government was at loggerheads with the EU for years over its judicial reform. The EU Commission had initiated several infringement proceedings against the EU member and is blocking a billion-dollar Corona aid fund.
Under his government, Poland will achieve the position of a “leader within the EU” through good cooperation, said Tusk. “The stronger the European Community is, the stronger we are, the more sovereign we are.” Tusk also promised that he would ensure that the frozen billions from the Corona aid fund were released.
There was an anti-Semitic attack on the sidelines of the subsequent debate. MP Grzegorz Braun from the right-wing extremist Konfederacja grabbed a fire extinguisher in the foyer and put out the lights on a Hanukkah menorah that representatives of the Jewish community had lit there. On social media, tumultuous scenes of gun smoke could be seen before Braun left the foyer. From the speaker’s platform, the MP then declared that lighting a Hanukkah menorah was an “act of Satanism.” Parliament President Szymon Holownia then excluded Braun from the meeting and announced that the Presidium would file a criminal complaint. Tusk called Braun’s action a disgrace.
The festival of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after an uprising against the Greeks in 164 BC and the “miracle of light” of a lampstand burning for eight days. It lasts until December 15th this year.
