Donald Tusk and his new government finally swore in in Poland, starting an uphill challenge to amend relationships with the European Union and revert the course of the country after eight years of nationalistic rule.
The ceremony signalled an end to a prolonged saga that saw Poland’s President Andrzej Duda stalling the formation of Tusk’s government. Duda asked first his own former party Law and Justice (PiS) to try and form a government, despite not having the necessary numbers in the Sejm, the Polish parliament. Before being sworn in by Duda, Tusk spoke to the parliament where he vowed to unfreeze Poland’s EU funds due to rule of law disputes.
However, his promise may be rendered difficult by the current state of the legislative branch of power in Poland. Under the rule of the previous governments of right-wing party PiS, the judicial was filled with personnel favouring the highly controversial reforms. Early this week, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal declared that the judicial reforms requested by the EU and the penalties imposed by the EU Court of Justice are unconstitutional.
Tusk said in his speech to the parliament that his government will focus on restoring the rule of law and respect for the constitution, adding that “faithfulness to the provisions of the constitution will be the trademark of our government.”
Talks on the frozen funds will surely start during Tusk visit at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. Tusk, who was European Council president from 2014 to 2019, already made a trip to Brussels after the October national elections in order to start rekindling relationships with the EU. During this summit, Tusk is expected to vote in favour of Ukraine’s bid to join the EU.
