Poland's parliament expresses confidence in Tusk government
Two months after the election in Poland, Donald Tusk has reached his goal. His coalition government has come to power. The German neighbor is therefore likely to take a more EU-friendly course.
Poland's parliament has confirmed Donald Tusk's new pro-European government. In a vote of confidence, 248 out of 449 MPs voted in favor of Tusk's cabinet. 201 voted against. President Andrzej Duda plans to swear in the head of government and his ministers on Wednesday. In his government statement this morning, Tusk called for the values of democracy and the rule of law to be upheld and announced that his country would cooperate well with the EU.
"What really forms a community is the rule of law, the constitution, the rules of democracy, secure borders and a secure national territory - these are the things we must not argue about," said the 66-year-old former EU Council President. The Gdansk native was already Polish head of government from 2007 to 2014.
Tusk now leads a coalition government made up of his liberal-conservative Civic Coalition, the Christian-conservative Third Way and the left-wing alliance Lewica. The three-party alliance won a government majority in the elections on October 15, but the national-conservative PiS government delayed the transition 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 state and is blocking a multi-billion euro coronavirus 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 and more sovereign we are." Tusk also promised that he would ensure that the frozen billions from the coronavirus aid fund would be released.
An anti-Semitic attack took place in the margins of the subsequent debate. MP Grzegorz Braun from the far-right Konfederacja party grabbed a fire extinguisher in the foyer and extinguished the lights on a Hanukkah candelabra that representatives of the Jewish community had lit there. Tumultuous scenes in the gun smoke could be seen on social media before Braun left the foyer. From the rostrum, the MP then declared that lighting a Hanukkah candle was an "act of Satanism".
Parliament President Szymon Holownia then excluded Braun from the session and announced that the Presidium would press charges. Tusk called Braun's action a disgrace. The Hanukkah festival 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 candle burning for eight days. This year it lasts until December 15.
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The new pro-European government led by Donald Tusk in Poland has received backing from Poland's parliament, with 248 MPs voting in favor. Mateusz Morawiecki, former Prime Minister of Poland, saw his PiS government delayed the transition of power after the coalition won a majority in the elections.
Source: www.ntv.de
