Polish Sejm elects Donald Tusk as Prime Minister

Poland's Sejm has elected Donald Tusk as the country's new prime minister, Polish Radio reports, citing PAP.

A total of 449 deputies voted, 248 voted in favor, 201 voted against, and no one abstained.

The vote was preceded by heated debates in the Sejm. During Donald Tusk's speech, most MPs gave him a standing ovation.

Tusk's government is expected to start working on December 13 at the earliest, after he takes the oath of office before the Polish president.

On Monday, December 11, the government of Mateusz Morawiecki's Law and Justice (PiS) party failed to win a vote of confidence in the lower house of the Polish parliament. Only 190 MPs voted in favor of his candidacy, while 266 voted against.

"I hereby certify that in light of the failure to obtain a majority of votes, the Sejm did not give a vote of confidence to the Council of Ministers," said Sejm Speaker Shimon Golovnya after the vote.

He added that "Morawiecki's mission ended in defeat."

Earlier, the head of the political cabinet of the Polish president, Marcin Mastalerek, said that President Andrzej Duda plans to meet with Donald Tusk to discuss the swearing in of the new government. According to him, this will probably happen in the morning of December 13.

The newly elected Prime Minister addressed the citizens of the countries with words of gratitude. During Tusk's speech, most MPs gave a standing ovation, Ukrayina.pl reports.

During Tusk's speech, the head of the Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, suddenly came to the podium. He addressed the new head of government and called him a German agent.

"There is a way when someone insults someone. I don't know who your grandparents were, but I know one thing – you are a German agent," Kaczynski said.

According to Donald Tusk, his future government will make every effort to work for the benefit of Poland and he guarantees that there will be no "ambiguity and external influences." Tusk added that after being elected prime minister, he promises "100 concrete actions in 100 days."

He also said that he would address the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border. He emphasized that he would look for ways to resolve this situation in a way that would take into account the requirements of carriers. According to him, he has set up an "interdisciplinary team" working on the border issue. The politician emphasized that Ukraine is "strategically important" for Poland.

The EU has high hopes for Donald Tusk, among others. He is well acquainted with European institutions, having served as President of the European Council for five years.

In November, Politico wrote that Donald Tusk won the nomination for "Europe's Most Powerful Person."