Warsaw, Poland (AFP) – Poland’s new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, and members of his government took office on Wednesday after taking the oath before the president, on the occasion of the country’s founding anniversary. The end of eight turbulent years National Conservative Party Governance, Law and Justice.
The pro-EU government was sworn in, the final step in the transfer of power, during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Tusk (67 years old) returns To the position of Prime Minister after a nine-year period during which he held a senior position in the European Union and was leader of the Polish opposition.
Leaders and senior officials from around the world, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, congratulated Tusk and said they looked forward to working with him and his team. German Chancellor Olaf Schulz He used Polish to amplify his congratulatory message to “Dear Donald Tusk.”
“Donald Tusk wants Poland back to the heart of the European Union, and that’s where it belongs,” Schulz said. “I am happy that together, arm in arm with Poland, we can develop the European Union and Polish-German relations,” he added.
Relations between neighboring countries became tense under the previous government, which exploited these relations The painful history of World War II.
The change of government follows national elections held on October 15, which were won by a group of parties, including Tusk’s Civic Platform party, while running on separate lists. They have pledged to do so Working together under Tusk’s leadership To restore democratic standards eroded by law and justice and repair strained relations with foreign allies.
Tusk’s government won a vote of confidence in Parliament on Tuesday evening after his inauguration speech He pledged to ask the West to do so Continue its support for Ukraine.
The vote of confidence was postponed after the victory of far-right MP Grzegorz Braun. I used a fire extinguisher To blow out the candles of the menorah during the Hanukkah celebration dedicated to Jewish legislators in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s.
Tusk and other leaders strongly condemned the anti-Semitic provocations. Brown’s party suspended his parliamentary term while the House of Representatives imposed on him the highest possible fine.
President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous administration, swore in Tusk’s government After I was late Transfer of power for as long as possible.
Duda said during the ceremony that despite the obvious differences between them, he would cooperate with the Tusk government on matters essential for Poland’s security and citizens’ well-being. But he stressed that he believes most things are in perfect condition.
Tusk, whose government was born out of the discontent of a majority of voters, said he received Duda’s announcement with “overwhelming happiness,” but he emphatically quoted the words of his constitutional oath, which pledged to respect the Polish constitution and other laws. Duda’s critics accuse him of this Bend the constitutionIn some cases, he even ignored them, as he supported the policies of law and justice.
Tusk, who served as Poland’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014, noted that the ceremony took place exactly 42 years after the country’s communist regime at the time imposed martial law in an attempt to destroy the burgeoning Solidarity freedom movement. Ultimately, solidarity triumphed, paving the way for democratic rule.
Later Wednesday, Tusk traveled to Brussels to attend an EU summit and leaders’ talks with the six Western Balkan countries hoping to join the EU. He is scheduled to hold talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday.
As head of the Polish government, Tusk faces challenges including: – Restoring democratic standards and working to unlock EU funding that had been frozen by democratic backsliding by his predecessors – something he promised to achieve quickly.
He said his goal in Brussels was to “strengthen European resolve” to support Ukraine and boost confidence in its final victory over Russia.
He also promised to work with European partners to tackle illegal migration, an issue of growing concern in Poland and the continent after thousands of people, many from the Middle East, tried to cross into the EU from Belarus, via Poland’s eastern border.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Tusk said: “Poland has returned to Europe. “
“This is, for me, the most important moment in my political life, I think,” he said.
Tusk’s government includes former Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who is taking on this role again. Adam Bodnar, A respect human rights The lawyer and former ombudsman has been appointed justice minister, tasked with undoing the previous administration’s actions that gave it more control over the judiciary.
Tusk appointed Vladislav Kosiniak-Kamisz, an experienced politician and agrarian party leader, as Minister of Defence. For Kociniak Kamisz, 42, Poland’s security is maintained by its membership in NATO and the European Union. In the face of the Polish cross-border war, he pledged to focus on strengthening the defense capabilities of the armed forces.
The new Minister of Culture is Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, former Interior Minister under Tusk and great-grandson of Quo Vadis author Henrik Sienkiewicz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. His first task will be to free the state media from the political control exercised by the previous government.
“Internet practitioner. Social media maven. Certified zombieaholic. Lifelong communicator.”